High-dose Intravenous Vitamin C in Patients With Septic Shock

Despite promising observational and phase 1 data, the therapeutic potential of vitamin C for the management of septic shock has not borne out in recent large multi-centre randomized controlled trials. There is biological plausibility for benefit with intravenous vitamin C, and the investigators hypothesize that the doses used in these trials were insufficient to demonstrate an effect. High-dose vitamin C has been trialed in patients with cancer and burns and proven to be safe. The investigators have recently demonstrated a dramatic benefit of high-dose intravenous vitamin C in reversing organ dysfunction in a large mammalian model of sepsis. The proposed prospective interventional study will be the first to administer high-dose intravenous vitamin C in critically ill patients with sepsis. The objectives of this study will be to determine whether high-dose intravenous vitamin C (i) reduces vasopressor requirement in critically ill patients with septic shock (ii) reverses organ dysfunction and (iii) is well tolerated.