Abstract: Objective To evaluate the effect of intravenous and oral vitamin C on maintenance hemodialysis(MHD) patients with iron overload. Methods Thirty MHD patients with serum ferritin (SF)＞800ng/ml and/or transferrin saturation (TSAT)＞50% were randomly divided into control group, oral group, and intravenous group. The levels of SF，TSAT, hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (Hct) in each group were assessed before and after the therapy. Results The levels of SF and TSAT decreased after 12-week therapy with the improvement of Hb and Hct in the intravenous group, which had significant difference comparing with both control and oral group (P＜0.01). SF, TSAT, Hb and Hct in oral group were improved slightly but no significant difference could be observed (P＞0.05). Conclusion Intravenous vitamin C supplement is better than oral vitamin C on MHD patients with iron overload.

Key words: Hemodialysis, Iron overload