Antiscorbutic effect of dehydro-L-ascorbic acid in vitamin C-deficient guinea pigs.
The antiscorbutic effect of dehydro-L-ascorbic acid (DAsA) was investigated in vitamin C-deficient guinea pigs. Male guinea pigs were fed vitamin C-deficient diets for 16 days to deplete body L-ascorbic acid (AsA) pools and then fed the deficient diet supplemented with DHA and/or AsA intraperitoneally for 14 days. During the repletion period, most of the animals injected with 0.5 mg DAsA/day developed scurvy, their body weights decreased and their mortality rate was higher than that of the other groups injected with 0.5 mg AsA/day or 5 mg DAsA/day. Injecting animals with 0.5 mg AsA/day resulted in the disappearance of the typical scorbutic symptoms and regaining of body weight. These data indicate that DAsA has considerably less antiscorbutic activity than AsA in vitamin C-deficient guinea pigs.
D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001206:Ascorbic Acid Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001835:Body Weight; D003683:Dehydroascorbic Acid / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D012614:Scurvy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013154:Spleen / Q000378:metabolism
D001205:Ascorbic Acid; D003683:Dehydroascorbic Acid