ABSTRACT
Ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient required for multiple biologic functions. During the course of evolution, humans along with other primates lost the ability for the hepatic biosynthesis of ascorbic acid due to a mutation in L-gulonolactone oxidase, the enzyme that controls the conversion of glucose to ascorbic acid (1,2). This inborn error of carbohydrate metabolism for our species has resulted in the dependence of humans on dietary consumption to achieve blood and tissue levels sufficient for the maintenance of health (1). The clinical features of scurvy, resulting from severe ascorbic acid deficiency, are well described (3). In addition to preventing scurvy, ascorbic acid functions as a water-soluble antioxidant (4) and has other important biologic actions that may be unrelated to its antioxidant properties.
