VIII. EFFECTS OF DEFICIENCY IN ANIMALS 335 



concentration exceeds a certain level which lies, according to different in- 

 vestigators, at 1 to 1 .3 mg. %,^" at 1 .4 mg. %,'"'* or at 1 .5 mg. %.'"'^ In 

 the guinea pig the threshold appears to lie--^ within the range. reported for 

 man. When a large dose of the vitamin was given intrapcritoneally to 

 guinea pigs accustomed to large daily doses, there was a marked elevation 

 of the levels in the blood, liver, and kidneys but little change in those of 

 the spleen and adrenals.-'-^- -^'' Soon after its administration considerable 

 urinary excretion of the vitamin occurred, particularly in adult animals. 

 The amount taken up by the organs following injection depended on the 

 degree of depiction since the last injection. During the period l)etween the 

 daily injections the unsaturation of the tissues becomes greater in young 

 rapidly growing animals than in mature animals. Usually not more than 

 one-fourth of the injected dose (5 mg. per 100 g.) was excreted in the urine 

 by the full-grown animals, but only half as much per unit of body Aveight 

 was excreted by the growing animals. Under the high dosage conditions 

 of these experiments a considerable amount of the vitamin was excreted 

 into the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract and apparently was there de- 

 stroyed. As much as 15 % of the total injected dose was to be found at one 

 time in the contents of the stomach and small intestine bvit only very small 

 amounts in the cecum and large intestine. Since in the guinea pig the con- 

 tents of the stomach and small intestine are passed fairly rapidly into the 

 cecum,^'" the results suggested that a destruction within the gastrointes- 

 tinal tract of 15 % and probably considerably more of the amount injected 

 must have occurred. 



Penny and Zilva-" stated that gastrointestinal absorption of ascorbic 

 acid is much more rapid and efficient in man than in the guinea pig. The 

 cause for this difference may be attributable, at least in part, to the more 

 rapid mo\'ement of the contents of the stomach and small intestine in the 

 guinea pig which thereby allows insufficient time for absorption of the 

 vitamin. Differences were found between the growing and mature animals 

 with respect to the manner in which they handled the vitamin, the younger 

 animals appearing to have a considerably greater capacity for its conser^'^a- 

 tion. Some loss of ascorbic acid also is reported to occur in man in the feces 

 and in sweat. Chinn and Farmer'"' reported a daily excretion in the feces 

 of normal human individuals of approximately 5 mg. Martin'''^ found 

 slightly less. After catharsis or in acute diarrhea, there may be an increased 



*<" A. M. Klosterman, J. E. Haines, H. Hauck, and A. B. Kline, J. Nxdrition 33, 505 



(1947) 

 "8 J. M. Faulkner and F. H. L. Taylor, ./. Clin. Invest. 17, 69 (1938). 

 "9 G. J. Friedman, S. Sherry, and E. P. Ralli, J. Clin. Invest. 19, 685 (1940). 

 "» M. E. Reid and W. C. White, Am. J. Physiol. 152, 455 (1948). 

 «> H. Chinn and C. J. Farmer, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 2, 561 (1939). 

 «2 H. Martin, Klin. Wochschr. 20, 287 (1941). 



