A Serial Study of Ascorbic Acid Depletion in the Guinea Pig

Abstract

Assess-ment of the specific role of vitamin C in metabolic studies is difficult after severe depletion. In this study, the reliability of whole blood ascorbic acid levels as indices of total body ascorbic acid was tested prior to the appearance of gross clinical signs of scurvy. Good correlation was found between these values, rate of weight gain, and stages at which scurvy became apparent. Usefulness of the method was substantiated, and it is suggested that the period prior to the 9th day of deprivation should prove of value in investigations of the specifically metabolic effects of vitamin C.