VIII. EFFECTS OF DEFICIENCY IN ANIMALS 341 



other dose of toxoid was given. After 10 days the antitoxin content of the 

 serum was determined. The average titer of the unsupplemented animals 

 was about }io that of the other two groups. 



(2) Detoxification of Harmful Products of Bacterial Action. Unfortunately, 

 little is known about possible detoxifying action of ascorbic acid on bac- 

 terial poisons. Conjugates of the vitamin and these substances have not 

 been found. 



(3) Altered Permeability of Membranes. It is possible that changes in 

 resistance to infection in scorbutus may be in part attributable to altered 

 permeal)ility of membranes, especially in view of Meyer's*^ finding of wide- 

 spread liquefaction of the cytoplasm and disappearance of the cell walls in 

 scur\y. Gersh and Catchpole's^® recent study showing a breakdown of the 

 basement membrane in scurvy also tends to support this suggestion. 



(4) Relation of Ascorbic Acid to Phagocytic Activity. The chief effect of 

 ascorbic acid on bacterial infection is related to its stimulative influence on 

 phagocj'tic activity. Meyer^^ observed as a rule a striking absence of active 

 phagocytosis by polymorphonuclear cells in intensely hemorrhagic subcu- 

 taneous tissue in scor])utic guinea pigs. There was also little phagocytosis 

 in areas of hemorrhage in the skeletal or visceral musculature. Lawry- 

 nowicz^®- observed a reduction in phagocytosis with respect to B. coli and 

 Myco. tuberculosis. Injection intraperitoneally of irritating substances into 

 scorbutic animals resulted in an exudate which was not as rich in leucocytes 

 as that obtained in normal animals. Messina and Varga*®' showed that 

 ascorliic acid increases phagocytosis in vitro. Hunt^^ found that deficiency 

 of the \'itamin delayed the removal of cat gut ligatures in experimental 

 wounds of guinea pigs either by phagocytosis or by extrusion. Cottingham 

 and Mills^^'* observed that vitamin C deficiency affects phagocytosis of 

 bacteria by leucocytes. Bourne^^^ found by histochemical methods that 

 leucocytes normally absorb large amounts of ascorbic acid, particularly 

 when they migrate into an injured or infected area. Meyer and Meyers- 

 studied the pathology of Staphylococcus abscesses in vitamin C-deficient 

 guinea pigs. In the scorbutic animals the appearance of macrophages was 

 delayed and the number was less than normal. Polymorphonuclear reaction 

 was prompt, but after a few days phagocytosis was less than normal. The 

 investigation of Nungester and Ames-' has furnished the most convincing 

 demonstration of the influence of ascorbic acid on phagocytic activity. 

 They made a study of the relationship between the ascorbic acid content of 

 polymorphonuclear leucocytes in peritoneal exudates and the phagocytic 



"2 A. Lawrynowicz, J. physiol. et pathol. gen. 29, 270 (1931). 



«" A. Messina and G. Varga, Giorn. Batteriol. Immunol . 19, 850 (1937). 



*^* E. Cottingham and C. A. Mills, J. Immunol. 47, 493 (1943). 



«' G. H. Bourne, Lancet 246, 688 (1944). 



