VIII. EFFECTS OF DEFICIENCY IN ANIMALS 347 



Clayton aiul Pruuty^"^ and Nadel and Schneider.^"^ These results are of 

 considerate interest, hut further study is required to determine more defi- 

 nitely the nature and place of origin of these compounds. 



There is some discrepancy in the reported effects of cortisone on the hem- 

 orrhaj2;i(' mainfestations of scurvy in guinea pigs. Schaffenhurg ct a/.'^'" found 

 tiiat cortisone inhibits many of the symptoms of scurvy in the guinea pig 

 though not the capillary hemorrhages, whereas desoxycorticosterone ag- 

 gravates the condition. H^anan et a/.^"® found that both ACTII and corti- 

 sone prolong life in scorbutic guinea pigs and reduce the tendency to hem- 

 orrhage. The two hormones produced similar effects on the scorbutic animal 

 with respect to maintenance of glycogen storage in liver, adrenals, and 

 muscle. As a result of the moderating effect of ACTH on scurvy 

 these workers thought it probable that vitamin C is not necessary for the 

 production of the corticosteroids similar to cortisone. The increased adrenal 

 activity induced by ACTH in the apparent absence of ascorbic acid in the 

 adrenals was interpreted as additional support for this hypothesis. 

 Eisenstein and Shank*"* also found that administration of ACTH delayed 

 the onset of severe scurvy in guinea pigs and increased the mean survival 

 period. They interpreted their results as indicating that vitamin C is not 

 directly involved in the elaboration of adrenal cortical hormones with an 

 ox\''gen atom at the C" position. Herrick ei aZ.*"^ in similar studies found 

 that animals not receiving cortisone developed painful joints and degener- 

 ating bones and testes and had a survival time of 12 to 19 days, whereas 

 those recei\'ing the hormone developed no painful joints, their bones and 

 testes had nearly normal structure, and they had a survival time of 17 to 

 45 days. In a continuation of these studies Hughes et al.^^^ investigated the 

 effects of ACTH, cortisone, and desoxycorticosterone on the development 

 of "arthritic" lesions in scorbutic guinea pigs and found that desoxycorti- 

 costerone and ACTH appeared to aggravate the arthritic condition, and 

 that cortisone suppressed it, a result which suggested to these workers the 

 possil)ility that "vitamin C may be essential in the production of the oxy 

 type of adrenal-cortical hormones." Although much study has been made 

 of the relation of vitamin C to the adrenals, the time has not arrived for 

 drawing definite conclusions as to its role in the production of corticoster- 

 oids. However, the burden of proof appears to rest on those who hold that 

 it has a positive effect. 



"8 B. E. Clayton and F. T. C. Prunty, Brit. Med. J. 2, 927 (1951). 

 "' E. M. Xadel and J. J. Schneider, Endocrinology 51, 5 (1952). 



*'" C. SchafTcnl)urg, G. M. C. Masson, and A. C. Corcoran, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. 

 Med. 74, 358 (1950). 



