Adequate intakes of vitamins and trace elements are required for the immune system to function efficiently. Micronutrient deficiency suppresses immune functions by affecting the innate T-cell-mediated immune response and adaptive antibody response, and leads to dysregulation of the balanced host response. This increases the susceptibility to infections, with increased morbidity and mortality. In turn, infections aggravate micronutrient deficiencies by reducing nutrient intake, increasing losses, and interfering with utilization by altering metabolic pathways. With aging a variety of changes are observed in the immune system, which translate into less effective innate and adaptive immune responses and increased susceptibility to infections. Antioxidant vitamins and trace elements (vitamins C, E, selenium, copper, and zinc) counteract potential damage caused by reactive oxygen species to cellular tissues and modulate immune cell function Adequate intake of vitamins B(6), folate, B(12), C, E, and of selenium, zinc, copper, and iron supports immune response with sufficient production of proinflammatory cytokines, which maintains an effective immune response and avoids a shift to an anti-inflammatory cell-mediated immune response and an increased risk of extracellular infections. Supplementation with these micronutrients reverses mediated immune response to a proinflammatory with enhanced innate immunity. Vitamins A and D play important roles in both cell-mediated and humoral antibody response and support an anti-inflammatory profile. Vitamin A deficiency impairs both innate immunity (mucosal epithelial regeneration) and adaptive immune response to infection resulting in an impaired ability to counteract extracellular pathogens. Vitamin D deficiency is correlated with a higher susceptibility to infections due to impaired localized innate immunity and defects in antigen-specific cellular immune response. Overall, inadequate intake and status of these vitamins and minerals may lead to suppressed immunity, which predisposes to infections.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17726308/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, Mar 22, 2020

 

Published Research and Articles on Vitamin C as a Consideration for  Pneumonia, Lung Infections, and the Novel Coronavirus                   (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19)

 

 By Graham Player, PhD, Andrew W. Saul, Damien Downing, MBBS, MRSB and Gert Schuitemaker, PhD

ABSTRACT: Vitamin C supports your immune system. Vitamin C helps to kill viruses and reduces the symptoms of infection. It’s not a COVID-19 “cure,” but nothing is. Nothing is proven to work against COVID-19, because it is a new virus. Vitamin C has worked against every single virus including influenzas, pneumonia, and even poliomyelitis. In the medical literature, there are more than 64,000 published articles and studies on Vitamin C available at The U.S. National Library of Medicine National Center for Biotechnology Information [1]. Vitamin C is arguably one of the most researched substances in existence.

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[1]  http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n20.shtml