ABSTRACT
A. B. Banerjee and C. Deb and M. J. Oesterling and C. N. H. Long reported that both the ascorbic acid and the cholesterol contents of the adrenals were diminished in guinea pigs with scurvy. Banerjee and H. D. Singh suspected that the abnormal cholesterol metabolism in scurvy might be related to the decreased insulin content of the pancreas which had already been observed; so they studied normal, scorbutic and insulin treated scorbutic guinea pigs. They found that the intestinal wall and total body cholesterol content was increased in scorbutic guinea pigs in comparison with normal controls; but prolonged treatment of the scorbutic animals with insulin lowered the total cholesterol content to the normal level. Daily intravenous administration of 0.5 to 1.0 g of ascorbic acid for 10 to 30 days resulted in a significant decrease in blood cholesterol in 92 of 106 atherosclerotic patients.
