Monday Oct 31, 2016 (foodconsumer.org) -- High doses of ascorbic acid or commonly known as vitamin C delivered by IV injection are used by some clinics such as the Vitamin C Infusion Clinic at the University of Kansas Cancer Center to treat a variety of cancers.M. E. Solovieva and colleagues at Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia published a report in 2007 saying that vitamin B12b (hydrocobalamine) boosts the cytotoxic effect of ascorbic acid.The cytotoxic effect of ascorbic acid is desired when this antioxidant is used to treat cancer.   The study shows that vitamin B12b boosts the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide, intracellular oxidative stress, DNA single strand breaks, and apoptosis induced by ascorbic acid in human larynx carcinoma HEp-2 cells.What the researchers did for the study was, they exposed the human larynx carcinoma HEp-2 cells to vitamin B12b and ascorbic acid and then measured the change in the parameters of concern such as hydrogen peroxide.The study also reveals iron chelators phenanthroline and desferrioxamine prevent the single strand DNA breaks and cell death induced by ascorbic acid and vitamin B12b even though the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide was not affected by the chelators.Also, the study finds pyruvate and catalase are effective at preventing the pro-oxidant and cyctotoxic effect of the ascorbic acid/vitamin B12b treatment.  Reducing agents N-acetylcysteine and glutathione are found to partially decrease the effects while dithiothreitol enhances the effects.These findings may help clinicians to decide what they may use to enhance the anticancer effect of ascorbic acid quickly.High concentrations of ascorbic acid delivered to the blood are reduced to a physiological level with two to three hours of injection.  To maintain the efficacy, repetitive injections are usually required.  Anything that can enhance the anticancer effect of ascorbic acid may help improve the treatment. (David Liu)Solovieva ME, Soloviev VV, Akatov VS.  Vitamin B12b increases the cytotoxicity of short-time exposure to ascorbic acid, inducing oxidative burst and iron-dependent DNA damage.  Eur J Pharmacol. 2007 Jul 2;566(1-3):206-14. Epub 2007 Mar 30.Simialr studies

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