Efficacy and Safety of Oral Versus Intravenous Vitamin C in Hemodialysis Patients with Functional Iron Deficiency

Abstract

Hemodialysis patients (HD) with functional iron deficiency (FID) often develop resistance to re-combinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo). Re-cent studies suggest that intravenous ascorbic acid (IVAA) may circumvent rHuEpo resistance, while oral AA is readily attainable. The aim of this study was to evaluate efficacy and safety of oral versus intravenous vitamin C in FID and whether this can improve anemia in hemodialy-sis patients. Materials and Methods: In this study, 31 hemo-dialysis patients with serum ferritin >100 µg/L, transferin saturation (Tsat)