ABSTRACT
Clinical studies describing the effect of vitamin C on plasma lipids were carried out under very different conditions on humans with very different starting values of plasma lipids, with a different and often unknown vitamin C-status. The degree of hypercholesterolemia depends on the duration of vitamin C deficiency, on the triglyceride and cholesterol content in the diet, and on the composition of dietary fatty acids. An enhanced ascorbate intake depresses the level of plasma triglycerides in various animal species, which is conditioned, among other factors, by activation of the lipolytic systems. An issue of interest, though as yet not investigated in humans, is the possible synergic action of ascorbate and hypolipemic drugs. Vitamin C is necessary for the transformation of cholesterol to bile acids, for it affects the rate-limiting reaction of cholesterol catabolism, the microsomal 7a-hydrox-ylation of cholesterol in the liver.
