title: Intermittent high-dose vitamin C therapy in patients with HTLV-I associated myelopathy.
abstract: The efficacy of intermittent high-dose vitamin C therapy was evaluated in seven patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM). All HAM patients responded well to this therapy without serious side effects. Grade of disability score improved at 9.7 (SD 5.8) months after the therapy from 7.1 (3.3) to 3.6 (2.0) (p < 0.01). Serum immunosuppressive acidic protein was elevated before and decreased after the therapy from 747 (316) to 398 (86) micrograms/ml (p < 0.05), suggesting favourable immunomodulatory action of vitamin C therapy in HAM patients.
authors.affiliation: Third Department of Internal Medicine, Oita Medical University, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kataoka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inayoshi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000097:blood; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; C030193:immunosuppressive acidic protein; D001205:Ascorbic Acid