Response to the Intravenous Injection of Ascorbic Acid as Indicated by the Urinary Excretion of the Total and Reduced Forms

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Abstract
Reduced and total ascorbic acid urinary excretions were determined on sixty-eight soldiers during a 6-hour period following intravenous injection of 200 mg. of ascorbic acid. Dehydro ascorbic acid has been computed by difference. The excretion of total ascorbic acid paralleled the excretion of reduced ascorbic acid (correlation r=0.914). It is concluded that the measurement of either substance would prove suitable to determine relative load test response. The means of the total ascorbic acid and the reduced ascorbic acid excretion were 29.4 and 24.2 mg. respectively. The difference between the means of the two methods, although small, is highly significant statistically. This is interpreted as indicating the presence of a small quantity of dehydro ascorbic acid in the urine.