Baseline characteristics
pneumonia, intraabdominal infections, Respiratory tract infections, infection, septic, sepsis, PVD, diabetes
PNEUMONIA, RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTIONS, INFECTION, PVD, SEPSIS, DIABETES
The study enrolled 23 of 27 patients who met the inclusion criteria. Four patients were excluded because their condition improved, resulting in their discharge from ICU earlier within 24 h from diagnosis of sepsis. Written informed consent was not obtained from one patient. The general demographic and clinical data of the studied patients are presented in Table 
Baseline characteristics of septic patientsPEEP (cmHFiO5 (5–8)60 (40–70)6 (5–8)60 (50–65)0.5490.842MAP, mean arterial pressure; HR, heart rate; PBR, perfused boundary region; TVD, total small vessel density; PVD, perfused small vessel density; PPV, proportion of perfused small vessels; MFI, microvascular flow index of small vessels; FHI, flow heterogeneity index; PEEP, positive end expiratory pressure; FiO2, inspired oxygen fraction; pO2,partial oxygen pressure; pCO2, partial carbon dioxide pressure, HCO3- , bicarbonate; Hb, hemoglobin; CRP, C reactive proteinData are presented as median and 25th and 75th percentilesNine males (75%) and three females (25%) were randomly assigned to the experimental group. Six male patients (55%) and five female patients (45%) were assigned to the control group.The abdomen was the predominant source of infection (58.4%) in the experimental group, followed by pneumonia. Respiratory tract infections were dominant in the control group (45.5%), followed by 9.1% intraabdominal infections. Three patients in a placebo group had diabetes. There was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups regarding APACHE II (21 (13–24) and 17 (13–28), p = 0.838) and SOFA (10.0 (8.5–12.5) and 8.0 (7.0–9.0), p = 0.564) scores or initial doses of noradrenaline (0.20 (0.11–0.30) and 0.24 (0.20–0.35), p = 0.482), respectively. All patients required norepinephrine at the beginning of the trial. At inclusion all patients were under mechanical ventilation.Systemic hemodynamic parameters did not differ significantly between groups at baseline or the end of the study. Vitamin C did not reduce norepinephrine dose compared with placebo. No significant differences were found in the levels of C reactive protein between the groups over the course of the study and the levels of interleukin-6 and interleukin-10 at the baseline and after 24 h from the beginning of the study.No significant differences were found between the groups among the ΔSOFA96 in the AA group compared with placebo: 0 (0–4) vs. 2 (0–4), p = 0.356.ICU mortality was 58.3% in the experimental group vs. 54.5% in the control group (p = 0.849).