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Interrelationship of dietary lipids and ascorbic acid with hepatic enzymes of cholesterol metabolic pathway.

Effect of unsaturated and saturated fats on cholesterol metabolism was studied in ascorbate sufficient and deficient guineapigs. Experimental animals were made chronic ascorbic acid deficient by allowing oral intake of 0.5 mg ascorbic acid/day/animal. Elevation in serum and liver cholesterol and triglyceride along with depression in cholesterol oxidation and 7 alpha-hydroxylation in liver was observed in unsaturated fat fed guineapigs with ascorbate deficiency. Liver microsomal cytochrome P-450 level was found to be low in ascorbate deficient animals. Polyunsaturated fat intake could not lower the serum cholesterol level in ascorbate deficiency. Today polyunsaturated fat in the diet is encouraged all over the world for its hypocholesterolemic effect. This study indicates that polyunsaturated fat intake with ascorbic acid deficiency may produce hypercholesterolemia.

Animals↗

A newly established strain of spontaneously hypertensive rat with a defect of ascorbic acid biosynthesis.

To investigate the effects of ascorbic acid deficiency on the pathogenesis of hypertension and/or its complications, we established a rat strain with both genetic hypertension and a defect of ascorbic acid biosynthesis. The od gene (L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase gene) of the ODS (Osteogenic Disorder Shionogi) rat, which is a rat mutant unable to synthesize ascorbic acid, was introduced into spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), and a novel congenic strain, SHR-od, was established. SHR-od showed scurvy when fed an ascorbic acid-free diet. Systolic blood pressure of male SHR-od began to increase at 9 weeks of age and reached 190-200 mmHg at 20 weeks of age. In 25-week-old SHR-od, ascorbic acid deficiency when fed an ascorbic acid-free diet for 6 weeks caused a remarkable reduction of blood pressure to lower than 110 mmHg. The wall to lumen ratio of the testicular artery in ascorbic acid-deficient SHR-od was lower than that of the control rats. When rats were fed a diet supplemented with ascorbic acid (300 mg/kg), ascorbic acid concentration in SHR-od was lower in the serum and liver than that in ODS rats. These results indicate that ascorbic acid could be closely related to the development of hypertension in SHR-od. We believe that SHR-od will be a useful model for experimental studies on hypertension and its complications, since all of them suffer from hypertension spontaneously and the level of ascorbic acid deficiency in these rats could be controlled at will both in concentration and duration.

Aging↗

Neonatal hypertyrosinemia and evidence for deficiency of ascorbic acid in Arctic and subarctic peoples.

Hypertyrosinemia tyrosine concentration in whole blood greater than 0.42 mmol/l or 7.5 mg/dl is prevalent among lnuit newborn of the Canadian Eastern Arctic. The rate was 14.8 per 100 newborn between January 1970 and December 1972 (first survey period) and 6.2/100 between January 1973 and September 1974 (second survey period); the corresponding rates among Indian newborn of Nouveau Quebec were 2.6 and 2.2%. Among Anglo-Saxons the rate was less than 0.5% and in French Canada it commonly exceeded 0.94%. Serum concentrations of ascorbic acid were low (less than or equal to 0.25 mg/dl) in the pregnant and age-matched adult lnuit when measured by Nutrition Canada during the first survey period. The percentages of inuit children (up to 4 years old) and pregnant women at "high risk" for scurvy (serum concentration of ascorbic acid less than 0.2 mg/dl) were 14.8 and 47.1, respectively; the corresponding national percentages were 3.0 and 2.2, respectively. Deficiency of ascorbic acid in pregnant women is probably the cause of the unusual prevalence of neonatal hypertyrosinemia among the native Arctic and subarctic peoples because ascorbic acid is required to maintain optimal activity of p-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid hydroxylase and to permit normal oxidation of tyrosine.

Adolescent↗

Ascorbic acid-deficient condition alters central effects of methamphetamine.

Effects of multiple doses of methamphetamine (METH) were examined in normal and ascorbic acid-deficient (scorbutic) guinea pigs. METH-induced decreases of striatal serotonin concentrations were completely antagonized in scorbutic animals. Elevations of nigral substance P-like immunoreactivity also differed significantly in METH-treated scorbutic compared to METH-treated normal animals. Various lines of evidence indicate that dopamine is an essential mediator of METH-induced effects in both serotonergic and substance P systems in the brain areas examined; however, results from the present study indicate that, along with dopamine, ascorbic acid also plays a role in mediating the effects of METH in the central nervous system.

Animals↗

Vitamin C activity of erythorbic acid in ascorbic acid-deficient guinea pigs.

The vitamin C activity of erythorbic acid (ErA) in ascorbic acid (AsA)-deficient guinea pigs was evaluated. The guinea pigs depleted AsA for 16 days were divided into two groups: one group (control group) was supplemented with 1, 5, or 100 mg/day AsA and the other group (experimental group) was supplemented with 1, 5, 20, or 100 mg/day ErA for 4 days. The contents of AsA and ErA in the tissues of guinea pigs were determined by using HPLC, and the activities of liver aniline hydroxylase, of serum alkaline phosphatase and the content of liver cytochrome P-450 were measured. The AsA tissue content of AsA-supplemented guinea pigs was much higher than the ErA tissue content of ErA-supplemented ones, and also, the activities of liver aniline hydroxylase, of serum alkaline phosphatase and the content of liver cytochrome P-450 of AsA-supplemented animals were much higher than those of ErA-supplemented animals, even when the supplemented amount of ErA was equal to that of AsA. Based on these results, the vitamin C activity of ErA seems to be much lower than that of AsA in the AsA-deficient guinea pigs. This suggested that the apparent vitamin C activity of ErA was dependent on the AsA tissue levels of guinea pigs.

Adrenal Glands↗

Studies in vivo on the biosynthesis of collagen and elastin in ascorbic acid-deficient guinea pigs. Evidence for the formation and degradation of a partially hydroxylated collagen.

1. After the administration of l-[G-(3)H]proline to guinea pigs deprived of ascorbic acid for increasing periods of time, the specific radioactivities of proline and hydroxyproline in skin collagen and aortic elastin were determined at various time-intervals after administration of the labelled compound with a view to studying the formation and degradation of collagen and elastin both deficient in hydroxyproline. 2. As judged from the incorporation of radioactivity into elastin proline, elastin synthesis was not decreased in the ascorbic acid-deficient animals. There was however, a rapid decline in the specific radioactivity of elastin hydroxyproline. The proline/hydroxyproline specific-radioactivity ratio was approx. 1.5:1 after 6 days and 20:1 after 12 days of ascorbic acid deprivation, in contrast with the ratio of 1:1 in controls. The results suggested that the effect of ascorbic acid deficiency on elastin biosynthesis could be regarded as simply an elimination of hydroxylation of elastin proline with the formation and retention of a polymer increasingly deficient in hydroxyproline. 3. Collagen proline and hydroxyproline specific radioactivities were derived from material that was soluble in hot trichloroacetic acid, non-diffusible and collagenase-degradable. In contrast with elastin, there was a rapid decline in the specific radioactivity of proline as well as hydroxyproline in collagen from the ascorbic acid-deficient animals. However, the proline/hydroxyproline specific-radioactivity ratio in all samples from scorbutic animals was consistently slightly above 1:1. The results suggest the appearance in place of collagen, but in rapidly diminishing amounts, of a partially hydroxylated collagen in which the degree of hydroxylation may be decreased only by approx. 10%. 4. Incorporation of radioactivity into the diffusible hydroxyproline in skin remained relatively high despite the rapid decline in the incorporation of radioactivity into collagen. This observation is interpreted as indicative of an increasing degree of degradation of partially hydroxylated collagen to diffusible peptides. An alternative explanation might be that partially hydroxylated peptides are released to an increasing extent from ribosomes before they attain a length at least sufficient to render them non-diffusible. In either case it implies the accumulation in scurvy of low-molecular-weight peptides enriched in proline and deficient in hydroxyproline and could explain the failure to accumulate a high-molecular-weight collagen deficient in hydroxyproline. 5. It is thought, however, that, in addition, an inhibition of ribosomal amino acid incorporation leading to decreased synthesis of partially hydroxylated collagen may also occur, perhaps secondarily to impaired hydroxylation.

Animals↗

Diabetes and periodontal diseases. Possible role of vitamin c deficiency: an hypothesis.

An hypothesis is proposed relating the possible role of vitamin deficiency as an etiologic factor contributing to periodontal disease in diabetes. The hypothesis is based upon the following: (1) transport of ascorbate across cell membranes may be impaired by glucose, but facilitated by insulin; (2) glucose utilization is significantly accelerated by sublethal concentrations of endotoxin; (3) endotoxin-induced histamine sensitivity of tissue is enhanced by ascorbic deficiency; and (4) ascorbic acid deficiency alters mucosal barrier function. The interrelationship of these factors is discussed.

Ascorbic Acid↗

Effect of dietary ascorbic acid, cholesterol and PCB on cholesterol and bile acid metabolism in a rat mutant unable to synthesize ascorbic acid.

The effect of acute or chronic ascorbic acid deficiency on the activity of hepatic cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase and fecal excretion of bile acids was investigated in ODS-od/od (OD) rats (a rat mutant unable to synthesize ascorbic acid) fed a purified basal diet or purified diets containing either cholesterol (2%) or polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) (200 mg/kg). In OD rats, the dietary requirement of ascorbic acid to maintain normal growth and normal levels of cholesterol in serum and liver is about 300 mg of ascorbic acid/kg diet. In OD rats fed the basal diet, acute or chronic ascorbic acid deficiency did not affect the activity of hepatic cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase and fecal excretion of bile acids. However, in OD rats fed diets containing either cholesterol or PCB, acute ascorbic acid deficiency caused a higher level of serum cholesterol, a lower activity of hepatic cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase and a lower excretion of fecal bile acids than in OD rats fed a basal diet containing an adequate level of ascrobic acid. It is concluded that acute ascorbic acid deficiency causes a hypercholesterolemia due to the depression of bile acid synthesis in OD rats fed a purified diet with cholesterol or PCB.

Animals↗