Abstract
Introduction: Inflammatory events after brain death (BD) generally influence the quality of donated organs and adversely affect the outcome of transplant surgeries. Vitamin C is a natural organic compound with potent antioxidant properties. Changes in serum levels of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) following BD are still unknown.
Objectives: This study aimed to assess the changes in serum vitamin C levels in brain dead donors in the time elapsed between BD diagnosis and at once before procurement procedure of donated organs.
Patients and Methods: In this experimental study, serum vitamin C levels were measured in 37 brain-dead donors (BDDs) at two time points, primarily on admission (R1) and just before organ procurement (R2). The difference between mean values of R1-R2 was analyzed according to the parameters of brain dead donor’s, which consisted of gender, cause of BD, and type of blood group.
Results: A total of 37 BDDs (62.2% male) with a mean age of 26.48±18.1 years were included. Time interval between the two samplings was 40.09±12.10 hours. Overall, there was a statistically significant difference between serum ascorbic acid (AA) levels at admission (R1) and immediately before organ procurement (R2) (P=0.016). However, in terms of the cause of BD and blood type, no significant difference in serum AA at the two-time points was detected (P=0.85 and P=0.79 respectively).
Conclusion: Significant differences were observed between serum vitamin C levels in the duration between BD diagnosis and immediately before procurement surgery. Therefore, determining the most effective dose of vitamin C supplementation and the best time to administer it to the patients is highly recommended for future studies.