Ascorbic Acid Deficiency Changes Hepatic Gene Expression of Acute Phase Proteins in Scurvy-Prone ODS Rats

Manuscript received 25 August 1997. Initial reviews completed 3 October 1997. Revision accepted 13 January 1998.

Laboratory of Nutritional Biochemistry, Department of Applied Biological Sciences, School of Agricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan

The ODS rat (genotype od/od), which has a hereditary defect in ascorbic acid biosynthesis, was used to investigate the effects of ascorbic acid deficiency on the hepatic gene expression of both the positive acute phase proteins, haptoglobin and ₁-acid glycoprotein, and the negative acute phase proteins, apolipoprotein A-I and albumin. Male ODS rats (6 wk old, body weight ~140 g) were fed a basal diet containing ascorbic acid (300 mg/kg diet) or a diet without ascorbic acid for 14 d. Ascorbic acid deficiency significantly elevated the serum concentration of haptoglobin and significantly lowered those of apolipoprotein A-I and albumin. The hepatic mRNA levels of haptoglobin and ₁-acid glycoprotein in the ascorbic acid-deficient rats were significantly elevated on d 12, and reached 260 (P < 0.05) and 360% (P < 0.01) of respective values in the control rats on d 14. On the contrary, the hepatic mRNA levels of apolipoprotein A-I and albumin in the ascorbic acid-deficient rats were lowered to 68 (P < 0.01) and 71% (P < 0.05) of respective values in the control rats on d 14. Although ascorbic acid deficiency significantly elevated the serum corticosterone concentration on d 14, the changes in mRNA levels of haptoglobin, ₁-acid glycoprotein, apolipoprotein A-I and albumin due to ascorbic acid deficiency were not affected by adrenalectomy, as assessed in a separate experiment. The serum concentration of interleukin-6, an inflammatory cytokine that stimulates gene expression of some acute phase proteins, was significantly higher in the ascorbic acid-deficient rats on d 14 than in the control rats. These results suggest that ascorbic acid deficiency causes physiologic changes similar to those that occur in the acute phase response.

The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 128 No. 5 May 1998, pp. 832-838
Copyright ©1998 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

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