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LACK OF EFFECT OF ASCORBIC ACID ON HYDROCORTISONE METABOLISM IN MAN^*

U. S. Army Medical Nutrition Laboratory, Fitzsimons Army Hospital Denver, Colorado

THE work of Bacchus has indicated that in the rat massive doses of ascorbic acid slow the metabolic degradation of administered cortisone, and this inhibition of breakdown prolongs the biologic actions of the cortisone (1–6). Because of the obvious clinical importance, an investigation was undertaken to determine if this effect of ascorbic acid also occurred in man.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE: Five young men in the age range of 19 to 22 years, who were conscientious objectors to military service, voluntarily acted as experimental subjects. All were in good health at the time of the study.

The metabolism of orally administered hydrocortisone was followed by three groups of determinations: plasma hydrocortisone, by the technique of Sweat et al. (7, 8); urinary 17-hydroxycorticoids, by the technique of Reddy et al. (9); and urinary 17-ketosteroids, by the techniques of Drekter et al. (10) and Vestergaard (11).

The subjects were awakened to void urine at 7:00 A.M. on the morning of the experiment; the sample was discarded.

^* The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of any governmental agency.

Received January 12, 1955.