VIII. EFFECTS OF DEFICIENCY IN .\NIMALS 



311 



and Zselyonka-^' also studied the content of vitamin C in the tissues of the 

 gastrointestinal tract. They found a content of 38 mg. % in the mucosa of 

 the small intestine. In the stomach, the mucosa of the fundus contained 

 more than that of the pj'-lorus. 



In the nervous system both the tissues and their bathing fluids contain 

 appreciable amounts of ascorbic acid. The content in the human brain has 

 been reported to range from 13 to 26 mg. %2'2 and that in the peripheral 

 nerves was found to be approximately one-fourth as much. The content in 

 the spinal fluid varies with that of the plasma and is about four times as 



TABLE IX 

 Average Content (Mg.%) of Ascorbic Acid in Guinea Pig Tissues 



jjjgjj 233 ^ direct relation of the vitamin to physiological function of the 

 nervous system has not been established, although there is some evidence^^ 

 that it affects the formation of cerebrosides. Also, it has been observed to 

 catalyze the oxidation of phospholipids in suspensions of brain tis.sue.-^^- -^^ 

 Variations in content of the vitamin within the tissues of certain glandular 

 organs have been observed. The intermediate and anterior lobes of the 

 hypophysis, the adrenal cortex, corpus luteum, and interstitial tissue ex- 

 ceed all other tissues of the body in their vitamin C content. Of particular 



"1 G. Ludany and L. Zselyonka, Biochem. Z. 294, 108 (1937). 



"2 J. Melka, Arch. ges. Physiol. 237, 216 (1936). 



2" F. Westergaard, Nord. Med. 16, 3536 (1942); Ber. ges Physiol. 133, 644 (1943). 



2" K. A. C. Elliott and B. Lihet, ./. Biol. Chem. 152, 617 (1944). 



"5 F. Bernheim, K. M. Wilbur, and D. B. Fitzgerald, J. Gen. Physiol. 31, 195 (1947). 



