ABSTRACT
Adrenal ascorbic acid depletion is now a well-recognized effect of any kind of stress, so we must look at the blood and other tissues if we wish to study the more general effects of trauma on ascorbic acid metabolism. The change was not due to lack of reduction of de-hydroascorbic acid to ascorbic acid, but to a high turnover of ascorbic acid in trauma. Injection of labeled ascorbic acid into guinea pigs on scorbutic, maintenance, and high-ascorbic acid diets, before and after surgery, revealed that the wounded animals had a lower 14CO2 excretion in the early postoperative period than in the corresponding preoperative period. Guinea pigs receiving 0.5 and 5.0 mg of ascorbic acid a day lost weight following surgery, while those receiving 50 and 100 mg/d gained weight. Levenson et al. studied the healing of laparotomy wounds in burned and unburned guinea pigs on restricted ascorbic acid intake regimens.
