William Wallace: Vitamin C Is More Than ”Immune Support”
William Wallace, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Supplement Success Solutions, shared a post on LinkedIn:
”Vitamin C is more than ‘immune support’
Neurons accumulate vitamin C to approximately 10 mM intracellularly, roughly 200 times the concentration found in plasma. This gradient is maintained by SVCT2, a sodium-dependent transporter expressed almost exclusively in neurons in vivo. The brain is also the last organ to be depleted during deficiency. In guinea pigs (which, like humans, cannot synthesize vitamin C), the brain retained 24% of its vitamin C stores after 14 days of zero intake, while the adrenal glands dropped to 4% and the spleen to 3%. The body prioritizes the brain above everything else.
The adrenal glands are the other major site of accumulation. Vitamin C is a required cofactor for two enzymes central to the stress response: 11β-hydroxylase, which catalyzes the final step of cortisol synthesis in the adrenal cortex, and dopamine β-hydroxylase, which converts dopamine to norepinephrine in the adrenal medulla.
Padayatty et al. (2007) measured this directly in 26 human patients. After ACTH administration, adrenal vein vitamin C concentration surged from 39 to 162 μmol/L within 2 minutes, while cortisol did not peak until 15 minutes. The adrenals released vitamin C before they released cortisol.
This sequence suggests ascorbate must be mobilized for steroidogenesis to proceed.
This doesn’t mean mega-dosing vitamin C will improve your stress response. Most of this work describes what happens during deficiency or acute demand, not supplementation above adequate intake. But it does reframe what vitamin C actually does in your body: it’s not primarily an antioxidant or immune molecule. It’s a required manufacturing input for cortisol and catecholamines, concentrated exactly where those hormones are made.”
Stay updated with Hemostasis Today.
-
May 26, 2026, 05:4779th World Health Assembly Approves Global Equity Resolution – EHC
-
May 26, 2026, 03:02Spelile Mutupira: Process of Blood Clotting After Injury
-
May 26, 2026, 03:00Clinton Otwori: Which Blood Product Do Healthcare Workers Most Commonly Misunderstand in Practice?
-
May 26, 2026, 02:58Toriqul Islam: EDTA-Induced Pseudothrombocytopenia
-
May 26, 2026, 02:34James O’Donnell Secures 2 Million Euros for a New Programme on The Irish ABO and Coagulation Study – RCSI
-
May 26, 2026, 02:26Joseph R. Shaw: Join The Annual CanVECTOR National Thrombosis Seminar on Precision in DOAC Reversal
-
May 26, 2026, 01:42Mili Doshi: The Role of Oral Health Teams in Supporting Stroke Rehabilitation and Recovery
-
May 26, 2026, 01:25Mohamed Mamdouh: Advancing Stroke Care Access in Cairo Through the Launch of a New Stroke-Ready Center
-
May 26, 2026, 01:15Tom Lazenby: Accelerating Rare Disease Drug Development Through MHRA’s Investigational Marketing Authorisation