ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the effects of vitamin C on the immune response will be discussed in relationship to recent observations in this laboratory suggesting that vitamin C may act specifically at the level of interleukin 2. While interest in the role of vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, in the host defense against infections and in the protection against tumor development has been sustained for more than 50 years, there is currently no consensus on the possible specificity of action, and observations have remained largely phenomenological. Although animal model studies have indicated that mild deficiency of vitamin C is associated with altered metabolism, the demonstration of an altered host defense in humans with subtle vitamin C deficiency have been largely epidemiological. In marked contrast to the effect of vitamin C addition to lymphocytes stimulated with mitogens, when mononuclear cells were activated with influenza A antigen, a strongly augmenting effect was observed.
