DefinePK

Abstract

Abstract


Guinea-pigs maintained on a vitamin C deficient diet for 30 days lost body weight (13.3%) and had reduced level of vitamin C (48.9%) in the serum. These guinea-pigs demonstrated a consistent pattern of neurological signs of neurolathyrism when administered intraperitoneally with an extract of Lathyrus sativus seeds, equivalent to 31.5 rng of active toxin, B - N-oxalyl- L-a, B-diarninopropionic acid (ODAP). On the other hand, animals in the control group which received the vitamin (15 mg/day/head) throughout the experimental period were resistant to these symptoms after the same level of the toxin administration. The results therefore demonstrate that vitamin C has a protective role against neurolathyrism in adult guinea-pigs