VIII. EFFECTS OF DEFICIENCY IN ANIMALS 317 



first to study the problem. Tlu'V found that glycogen deposition is decreased 

 m the livers of guinea pigs on a scorbutigenic diet. Yoshinare observed a 

 decrease in muscle glycogen also. Administration of the vitamin to deficient 

 animals caused a prompt storage of glycogen. Katsimamaiiga-" observed the 

 influence of the vitamin on the b('lia\'ior of the animal at rest. In guinea 

 pigs on a diet deficient in ascorbic acid, the liver and muscle glycogen de- 

 creased to a{)proximately one-fifth the normal content whereas muscle and 

 blood lactate tended to increase. The rates of return to normal were roughly 

 proportional to the amount of ascorbic acid supplied. Several workers have 

 found that injection of ascorbic acid into guinea pigs or ral)l)its increased 

 the glycogen content of the liv^er.'^' ■ -'73-275 gy ^j^g intravenous injection of 

 10 ml. of a 10% lecithin suspension per kilogram, Terada"'' obtained com- 

 plete depletion of glycogen in rabbits after 12 hours. Two and fi\'e-tenths 

 grams of glucose per kilogram were then given, and the animals were sac- 

 rificed after 3 hours by which time the alisorption and storage of the major 

 portion of the glucose had occurred. He found that suV)cutaneous adminis- 

 stration of L-ascorbic acid (50 mg. per kilogram) increased the liver glyco- 

 gen stores to 1.9%, which was 63% more than those of the control group. 

 Doses of D-araboascorbic acid also increased the glycogen .storage to 1 .8 % 

 or 61 % more than the control value. These experiments showed clearly 

 that the glycogenic action of the two forms of ascorbic acid was the same 

 but unrelated to their scurvy-preventing al)ility. The possibility of conver- 

 sion of either of the two forms of ascorbic acid to glycogen was not sug- 

 gested. 



(4) Smnmarij of Relations of Ascorbic Acid to Carbohydrate Metabolism. 

 Present e\'idence appears to indicate that a tendency to lower glucose toler- 

 ance and a higher fasting l)lood sugar le\'el are characteristic of scurvy in 

 guinea pigs. Scorljutic animals show^ slower absorption after glucose inges- 

 tion than do normal animals. The insulin content of the pancreas is ap- 

 preciai)ly lowered in scurv}', but this is undoubtedly not the onlj^ defect 

 in glucose metabolism. The complete relationship of ascorbic acid to glucose 

 tolerance has not been elucidated. 



c. Fats 



(1) Effect of Lack of Ascorbic Add on Content of Tissue Lipids. Although 

 control of food intake, as should be expected, is especially important in 

 studying these problems,^^' "*"■ -^^ in several investigations which have been 



"* A. R. Ratsimamanga, Travail humain 7, 303 (1939). 



"' A. Morelli and L. d'.\mbrosia, Arch. sci. biol. 24, 351 (1938). 



"* K. Terada, Tohoku ./. Exptl. Med. 36, 180 (1939). 



"* I. Watanabe, Tohoku J. Exptl. Med. 35, 65 (1939). 



"« M. A. Spellberg and R. W. Keeton, Froc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 41, 570 (1939). 



