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Vitamin C Metabolism in Eastern Cotton Rats¹

Department of Bacteriology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City

The results reported in this paper show that the ascorbic acid content of the liver, spleen and brain of the cotton rat stands at about the same level as that of corresponding tissues of the albino rat. These concentrations are, of course, considerably above those of the guinea pig. However, the vitamin C level of the adrenal in cotton rats is markedly below that in albino rats and begins to approach the figures for guinea pigs. In spite of this relatively low adrenal storage, the cotton rat seems perfectly capable of maintaining, throughout its tissues, a normal threshold of vitamin C when deprived of ascorbic acid in its diet. Moreover, an additional intake of ascorbic acid is apparently not utilized since it fails to raise the vitamin C values beyond their existing limits for each organ. This would suggest that the cotton rat, like the albino rat, possesses some physiological mechanism for synthesizing vitamin C, in sharp contrast to the demonstrated inability of the guinea pig in this respect. The vitamin C metabolism of cotton rats may therefore be said to compare essentially with that of albino rats, save for the relatively low adrenal storage of ascorbic acid, which resembles somewhat the characteristics of the guinea pig.

Manuscript received 24 July 1940.