MAINTENANCE OF BLOOD 17-HYDROXYCORTICOSTEROIDS FOLLOWING ASCORBIC ACID TREATMENT

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Abstract
IT HAS been demonstrated that the eosinopenic and lymphopenic actions of exogenous and endogenous adrenal cortical hormones are prolonged by ascorbic acid treatment (Bacchus et al., 1952). Those data were interpreted as indicating that ascorbic acid in some manner maintains the circulating levels of these hormones. It was observed, also, that simultaneous ascorbic acid treatment to adrenalectomized female rats receiving cortisone prevented the usual rise in the urinary 17-ketosteroids, and permitted a significant increase in the corticosteroid excretion (Bacchus, Altszuler, and Heiffer, 1952a; Bacchus and Heiffer, 1953). These data were also supported by in vitro studies which indicated that ascorbic acid depresses the metabolism of cortical hormones by liver slices (Bacchus, 1953 a, b). This paper reports data on the effect of simultaneous ascorbic acid treatment on the circulating levels of 17-hydroxycorticosteroids in adrenadectomized rats injected with cortisone acetate. Data on the circulating leukocytes are also presented. The first experiment involved the determination of plasma