ascorbic-acid and Meningitis

Topics: Adult; Ascorbic Acid; Cholangitis; Clinical Trials as Topic; Erythromycin; Female; Fungi; Humans; Infant; Infections; Male; Meningitis; Meningoencephalitis; Peritonitis; Pneumonia; Staphylococcal Infections; Urine

A 65-year-old Japanese woman developed vesicular eruptions on her right ear due to varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivation, followed by cranial polyneuritis and meningitis affecting her right cranial nerves V, VII, VIII, IX, and X. After acyclovir administration, her facial paralysis worsened. Intravenous methylprednisolone and vitamin C were administered on Day 4 post-admission. Her symptoms steadily improved, and by Day 45 she had fully recovered. Cranial polyneuritis is a rare complication of VZV reactivation, and there is no established method of treatment. This is the first report of full recovery from cranial polyneuritis using intravenous vitamin C as ancillary treatment.

Topics: Administration, Intravenous; Antioxidants; Ascorbic Acid; Cranial Nerves; Female; Herpes Zoster; Humans; Meningitis; Middle Aged; Neuritis

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma from 67 children, in whom lumbar puncture had to be performed for medical reasons, are reported in this preliminary paper. 14 children of this group show normal CSF laboratory values and serve as controls. Vitamin C concentrations in CSF of controls are on average 2.5-3-times higher (30.1 +/- 6.3 mg/l) than the pertaining values in their plasma (12.2 +/- 4.9 mg/l). Significant differences are exhibited by premature and term babies, which have up to 16-times higher values of vitamin C in CSF than in plasma. Furthermore CSF vitamin C is 4-5 times higher in premature babies than in schoolchildren of our group (118.2 +/- 65.9 versus 28.3 +/- 3.0 mg/l). Another interesting finding in this study is a significant decrease of CSF vitamin C in cases of acute purulent meningitis (12.3 +/- 4.8 versus 30.1 +/- 6.3 mg/l, p less than 0.05). These results, in connection with reports about high vitamin C concentrations in brain tissue, particularly in prematures, make one suspect important functions of this vitamin in physiological and pathological mechanisms in the central nervous system.

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature; Male; Meningitis

Glucose in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of neonates, as measured with a kinetic glucose oxidase/peroxidase procedure, was sometimes very low. When these samples were stored at 4 degrees C and subsequently re-analyzed, or if the samples were analyzed at any time after receipt by using a glucose dehydrogenase assay, the values were much higher. We found that the discrepancies in the values were caused by a lag phase in the kinetic method, during which no color developed. Because the lag phase exceeds the time over which the reaction is monitored in the kinetic procedure, this leads to the erroneously low values. The interference could be reproduced experimentally by adding ascorbic acid to CSF or plasma samples, or removed by adding ascorbate oxidase to CSF samples. Plasma glucose, as estimated by the kinetic glucose oxidase method, showed no such interference.

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Blood Glucose; Diagnosis, Differential; False Negative Reactions; Glucose; Glucose Dehydrogenases; Glucose Oxidase; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Kinetics; Meningitis; Peroxidases

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Child; Humans; Infant; Meningitis; Meningitis, Haemophilus; Meningitis, Viral; Neisseria meningitidis; Phagocytosis; Pneumococcal Infections

Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antitubercular Agents; Ascorbic Acid; Bacteria; Cholera; Dapsone; Dysentery, Bacillary; Female; Heterocyclic Compounds; Humans; Leprosy; Meningitis; Meningitis, Haemophilus; Methods; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases; Pregnancy; Puerperal Infection; Scarlet Fever; Sulfathiazoles; Sulfones; Tuberculosis, Meningeal; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary; Urinary Tract Infections; Vitamin K

Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Ascorbic Acid; Blood; Blood Protein Electrophoresis; Blood Proteins; Drug Therapy; Endocarditis; Endocarditis, Bacterial; Humans; Meningitis; Meningoencephalitis; Oximetry; Peritonitis; Ristocetin; Sepsis; Urine

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Cholera; Communicable Diseases; Glutathione; Humans; Meningitis; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Smallpox; Variola virus; Vitamins

Topics: Abscess; Ascorbic Acid; Coumarins; Humans; Meningitis; Palatine Tonsil; Penicillins; Peritonsillar Abscess; Sepsis; Sinus Thrombosis, Intracranial; Streptomycin; Sulfonamides; Vitamin B Complex