ABSTRACT

Wortis et al. studied the ascorbic acid content of the blood and the cerebrospinal fluid of a large group of normal individuals and of 103 alcoholics admitted to Bellevue Hospital from the streets of New York City. Alexander et al. reported one chronic alcoholic patient with Wernicke's encephalopathy who had clinical and pathological evidence of frank scurvy, with subperiosteal, intramuscular, subcutaneous, and perifollicular hemorrhages. A highly significant linear correlation was found between the hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase activity and leukocyte ascorbic acid levels in 12 patients with nonalcoholic liver disease. Pawan studied the effects of vitamins and various sugars on alcohol metabolism in four men and reported that 600 mg of ascorbic acid had no effect on the rate of ethanol clearance. While they acknowledged that this vitamin C deficiency was usually associated with general malnutrition and other vitamin deficiencies, they suggested that, "vitamin C likely plays a role in the metabolism of nervous tissue".