Blood Ascorbic Acid Research Articles

Distribution of Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C) in Cells and Tissues of the Developing Chick

1. The distribution of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in the cells and tissues of chick embryos, from the fourth day of incubation to 2 days after hatching, has been studied by the acid silver nitrate method. 2. Mesenchymatous cells show a reaction when undergoing histo-differentiation into cartilage, bone, muscle, dermis, vitreous humour, adrenal cortex, meninges. Differentiated cartilage cells do not contain ascorbic acid except in areas of proliferation; the cartilaginous matrix may contain it where the cartilage is about to be replaced by bone. Osteoblasts show no reaction at first, a slight reaction when they become surrounded by calcified tissue, and in some cases a strong reaction in older bone. Ascorbic acid is associated with the ‘osteogenic’ fibres immediately before calcification, and is also present in newly calcified trabeculae. 3. In blood ascorbic acid is present in erythrocytes and plasma; evidence is presented for the view that it accumulates in the older erythrocytes. Cells resembling histiocytes have been observed in muscle, containing high concentrations; no other leucocytes have been observed to show a reaction. 4. Liver shows a strong diffuse reaction in early embryos, but none at all after the tenth day. At the latter age ascorbic acid has been detected in a localized area of cytoplasm which appears to be the Golgi substance. 5. The thyroid shows no reaction at the tenth day, or after hatching, but has been seen to give a reaction at the twelfth day. 6. Various epithelia of the organs of special sense, and of the alimentary canal, contain ascorbic acid. 7. The adrenal, both cortex and medulla, first shows a reaction at the twelfth day; by the fourteenth day typical distributions appear, though the amount of ascorbic acid present continues to increase after that age. The reaction shown by the medullary cells is much stronger than that shown by the cortical elements, a reversal of the condition in the mammalian adrenal. 8. Ascorbic acid was not detected in the testis. In the ovary it appears at the fourteenth day, in a very restricted area of the cytoplasm of certain large cells in the cortex; at later ages the distribution is similar, but the impregnated area in each cell is larger. The cells concerned are believed to be the germ-cells. 9. The mesonephros contains ascorbic acid from the fifth to the sixteenth days in the tubule cells, the glomeruli, and the lumina of the tubules. In the tubule epithelia the deposit may be localized at one pole of the cell. The metanephros begins to show a reaction at the twelfth day; here, too, the tubule cells frequently have a deposit at one pole. 10. In the cells of the central nervous system ascorbic acid may be localized in a small area near the nucleus (probably the Golgi material), round the whole of the nuclear surface, or in the axon and axon hillock; or it may be diffusely distributed through the cytoplasm. A reaction is shown at the fourth day, especially in the axons of certain cells of the brain and spinal cord; later, localization in the Golgi substance becomes very general in most parts of the brain and cord. A reaction is also shown in ganglion cells, the meninges, and the choroid plexuses. The specific distributions in the principle parts of the central nervous system are described. 11. Results are discussed in the sections on each organ or tissue. In the general discussion it is pointed out that the observations described are concordant with the view that ascorbic acid is frequently localized in the Golgi material. On the other hand, the evidence is that there is no specific relation with the ‘chondriome’ in the embryonic cells of the fowl. The role of ascorbic acid in development is also briefly discussed.

Effects of Clinical Doses of Phenobarbital on Blood and Urine Ascorbic Acid in Human Subjects

SummaryThere was no significant change in whole blood, plasma, or urinary excretion of ascorbic acid following administration of 180 mg of phenobarbital daily to human subjects. Twenty-five mg of crystalline ascorbic acid daily is insufficient to maintain whole blood or plasma values when the subjects take an ascorbic acid-free diet.

Whole Blood and Plasma Ascorbic Acid Concentrations in Patients with Pellagra and Associated Deficiency Diseases.

Summary and ConclusionsWhole blood and plasma ascorbic acid determinations made on 70 patients in the nutrition clinic of the Hillman Hospital indicate that 55 of these persons had a whole blood concentration of ascorbic acid lower than in normal controls. In 8 of the 70 cases, the concentration was so low as to suggest that depletion may have been advanced. Most of these patients had clinical evidence of other deficiencies, such as pellagra, beriberi and riboflavin deficiency, but no significant correlation could be made between the blood ascorbic acid values and the symptoms of these deficiency states, nor indeed of scurvy itself. These observations seem pertinent in view of the fact that they were made in late June, at a period when leafy vegetables and berries had been available to the patients for some time, and probably indicate that ascorbic acid deficiency is still greater at other periods. These studies give strong support to the concept that natural-occurring deficiency diseases exist as complex...

The stability of ascorbic acid in blood

The stability of ascorbic acid in blood

Administration of Ascorbic Acid to an Alkaptonuric Patient.

SummaryThe administration of from 1 to 4 g of ascorbic acid per day has been found to be without effect on the excretion of homogentisic acid by an alkaptonuric individual excreting an average of 7 g of the metabolite daily. The ineffectiveness of this excessive amount of vitamin is a rinding which is in agreement with results with smaller doses obtained by other investigators.The authors are indebted to Professor Vincent du Vigneaud for placing at their disposal laboratory facilities in the Department of Biochemistry of the Cornell University Medical College for the chemical work in connection with this experiment, and to Dr. Elaine P. Ralli of the Department of Medicine of New York University for the determination of the blood ascorbic acid.

Ascorbic Acid Levels in Patients Suffering from Psychoses of the Senium

Numerous workers (Plaut, 1935; Altaman, 1937; Monouni, 1937) have reported that the blood and spinal fluid ascorbic acid levels are low in the aged. No adequate explanation of this fact has been given. Wortis (1938) has suggested that, since oral administration increases the ascorbic acid level of the spinal fluid in the aged as in the young, defective absorption probably does not play a significant part. He believes that the lower values in older persons may be due to increased intensity of metabolic processes concerned with the elaboration of ascorbic acid. Friedman, in discussing this contribution, advanced the suggestion that in older persons there may be less need for ascorbic acid because metabolism is slowed.

The vitamin‐C content of blood and cerebro‐spinal fluid

AbstractThe significance of vitamin‐C as a metabolism catalyst is briefly discussed.The distribution of ascorbic acid in blood and brain fluids has been investigated, the determinations being carried out simultaneously.The opinion of Plaut and Bülow, that the vitamin‐C content in the fluid decreases with age and must be considered as an indication of a diminished activity of the nerve fibres, could not be confirmed. When a smaller quantity of vitamin‐C is met with in older people, it must be connected with a small intake of food containing sufficient ascorbic acid.

The supplementary value of the banana in institution diets: II. Capillary resistance and reduced ascorbic acid in the blood plasma

<h2>Summary</h2> This study, as reported in this and Part I, affords a small contribution to the problem of optimum versus adequate nutrition. It reports the results of supplementing the diet of approximately 100 boys living in an institution with two to three bananas daily over the period of a school year. The usual diet of the institution would be considered adequate in that it measured up to all minimum dietary standards which have been proposed. Nevertheless, it appeared to be susceptible of improvement, for the boys receiving the supplement showed consistently better growth and development by every measure of physical status which was applied than did the control boys who did not receive it. This was evidenced for growth in height, weight, arm girth, and subcutaneous tissue, for ossification of the carpal bones, and for the two measures of vitamin C stores used, namely, capillary resistance and reduced ascorbic acid in the blood plasma. The most significant differences were those for blood ascorbic acid. The experimental boys averaged 0.20 mg. per 100 c.c. of plasma higher than the control boys; this difference is six times its probable error and therefore significant. These results indicate that the allowances for the various dietary essentials for boys of the ages here studied should approach the higher rather than the minimum standards which have heretofore been proposed, in particular for vitamin C. Taking into consideration the findings of this study, previously proposedstandards, and the small amount of experimental data available on food requirements, tentative allowances are proposed as reasonable ones to use for boys 10 to 12 years of age until more precise data on the needs for these years are obtained.

Blood studies of vitamin C during pregnancy, birth, and early infancy

Summary We have measured the ascorbic acid of the plasma of pregnant women. There seems to be a slight fall toward the end of pregnancy. Factors incident to labor lower the ascorbic acid in the maternal blood. The fetus acts as a parasite and has higher levels than maternal blood taken ante partum. Totally breast-fed babies are well supplied with vitamin C if the ascorbic acid of the milk is greater than 4 mg. per cent; if the ascorbic acid is below 2 mg. per cent in the breast milk, there is likelihood of a deficiency in the baby. In artificially fed babies not receiving additional vitamin C, the level of ascorbic acid in the blood is low. As a result of these studies, the following recommendations are made: Artificially fed babies should receive additional vitamin C from the time they are 2 weeks of age. The mothers of breast-fed babies should have adequate vitamin C in the diet, and, if there is any question of lack in the mother's diet, the baby should receive additional vitamin C.

VITAMIN C IN HUMAN PREGNANCY AND LACTATION

There is evidence from animal experiments that the requirements for certain of the vitamins are increased by pregnancy. However, there is little precise information with respect to changes during pregnancy and lactation in women's needs for vitamins. The recent development of reliable methods for determining the amount of vitamin C in tissues and in biologic fluids has offered opportunity for studies during human pregnancy and lactation. A number of observations have appeared in the literature of the past three years concerning the ascorbic acid content of maternal blood, of fetal blood and of the placenta, although no one seems to have followed a series of pregnant women consistently through pregnancy and delivery to obtain related and comparative values. Neuweiler,1using Gabbe's technic with modifications, reported a higher content of ascorbic acid in blood from the umbilical vein than in that from the umbilical artery (1.9 to 3.6 versus 0.7

Correlation Between Blood Ascorbic Acid and the Dichlorophenolindophenol Intradermal Test

ConclusionNo correlation between the fasting blood ascorbic acid and the decolorization time of the dichlorophenolindophenol intradermal test was noted in a series of 50 adult female patients with active tuberculosis, in 43 of whom hypovitaminosis C existed.

The determination of ascorbic acid in blood

The determination of ascorbic acid in blood

On the amount of ascorbic acid in blood and urine. The daily human requirements for ascorbic acid

On the amount of ascorbic acid in blood and urine. The daily human requirements for ascorbic acid

Determination of Reduced Ascorbic Acid in Blood

SummaryThe ascorbic acid value of blood is materially affected by standing either in the ice-box or at room temperature. Determinations should be carried out within one-half hour after the collection of the blood.Since the appearance of the clinical methods for determining blood ascorbic acid by Farmer and Abt1,2 considerable interest has been aroused in the study of vitamin C in various diseased conditions. The determination depends on the following proceduure: Deproteinization of the plasma by 10% metaphoric acid3 and titration of the reduced ascorbic acid present in the filtrate with 2:6 dichlorophenol indophenol.4By the use of this method we have obtained high and low ascorbic acid values in presumably normal subjects, or at least in individuals in whom there was no reason to suspect vitamin C deficiency. Furthermore, determinations on the same subject within 2 or 3 hours yielded various blood ascorbic acid values. In all these determinations great care was exercised to avoid the presence of disturbin...