Ascorbic acid, deficiency deprivation

The relationship of the above observations in ascorbate-deprived guinea pigs to lymphocyte dysfunction is not clear-cut. Observations by Fraser et al. (1978) on lymphocytes from scorbutic animals suggested a decrease in T lymphocyte count and an increase in B lymphocytes. This phenomenon was reversed when animals were supplemented with a high dose (250 mg/day) of ascorbate. The scorbutic animals had a lower T cell response to concanavalin A (Con A) and an increased B cell response to lipopolysaccharide, compared to animals on diets replenished with ascorbic acid. However, Anthony et al. (1979) did not observe a reduction in T cells in the spleen of scorbutic animals. Because vitamin C-deficient diets can lead to inanition and scorbutic animals are more susceptible to infections, better models are needed to address the relationship between direct effects of vitamin C level and lymphocytic function (Cunningham-Rundles et al., 1993). 

The human fetus absorbs ascorbic acid from the placenta (124) and restrictions of women s diet during pregnancy lead occasionally to abortion but not to deprivation of the fetus (126). The fetus seems to draw the vitamin C from the mother as long as appreciable amounts of ascorbic acid are present in the maternal plasma (126). Several studies have shown that the vitamin C content of the blood plasma of the fetus is higher than that of the mother (126, 127, 128, 129). The fetus seems to act parasitically on the mother with respect to vitamin C and vitamin C deficiency is not rare in pregnancy and puerperium (126, 130, 131). In spite of its parasitical action the fetus does not always obtain the required amounts of vitamin C from the mother and congenital scurvy occurs in man (132). 

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