The fixation and retention of ascorbic acid by the guinea-pig

Abstract

Oral doses of soln. of ascorbic acid above 0.5-1.0 mg. are only partially absorbed by the guinea-pig. Daily oral doses of ascorbic acid to initially saturated guinea-pigs on a scorbutic diet led to a deposition, in all the tissues except leukocytes, which was proportional to the square root of the dose. Disappearance of ascorbic acid on a scorbutic diet follows an exponential curve. Saturation values, obtained by extrapolation to zero time, were usually lower than obtained experimentally, indicating a "flushed" condition. Loss from leukocytes is similar for the first 8-10 days, but then until the premortal stage a residue persists which gives the Roe and Kuether reaction and which reduces indophenol. Scurvy develops when the curve of the ascorbic acid tissue conc. reaches asymptotic values for long periods of depletion and there is no correlation between tissue content and appearance of scorbutic lesions. A high proportion of the ascorbic acid fixed by tissues of saturated guinea-pigs and lost during 1st few days of depletion does not act as a store for protection against scurvy. The first appearance of a continuous elimination of ascorbic acid in human urine is evidently a result of "super-saturation.".