Vitamin C infusion treatment enhances cortisol production of the adrenal via the pituitary ACTH route.
The present study is an extension of our past study on the clinical use of vitamin C infusion or injection treatment in autoimmune disease and allergy which suggests that the intravenous introduction of vitamin C may enhance the activity of the endogenous cortisol in such a way as to allow clinical control of immune disorders. This time, we investigated the relation between ACTH, cortisol and vitamin C in plasma in the course of vitamin C infusion or injection treatment with and without the use of methyl-prednisolone annex, a suppressor of the homeostatic mechanism of the pituitary ACTH. A total of 4 experiments were conducted using a healthy male volunteer. Results obtained are as follows: 1) the practice of the steroid-free vitamin C infusion treatment induced a) distinct depletion of both cortisol and vitamin C from the circulation at the initial to moderate stages of the experiment, b) a small surge of plasma cortisol at the middle stage, and c) skyrocket-like rises of ACTH and cortisol of plasma at the terminal stage. 2) The use of methylprednisolone annex in the vitamin C infusion set completely suppressed the emergence of the plasma ACTH/cortisol surges of the terminal stage, but not the small surge of plasma cortisol. The synthetic steroid also suppressed the depletion of vitamin C and cortisol of the initial to moderate stages. 3) The terminal ACTH/cortisol surges of plasma were less distinct in the vitamin C infection experiment than in the vitamin C infusion experiment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Kodama
M
M
Kodama Research Institute of Preventive Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
Kodama
T
T
Murakami
M
M
Kodama
M
M
D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000494:pharmacology; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000187:drug effects*
D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D001205:Ascorbic Acid; D006854:Hydrocortisone; D008775:Methylprednisolone