© 1984 Oxford University Press
research-article |
Ascorbic Acid Nutritional Status Does Not Affect the Biochemical Response to Paraquat1
Medical Research Service, James A. Haley Veterans Administration Hospital Tampa, Florida 33612, and Department of Pharmacology, University of South Florida College of Medicine Tampa, Florida 33612
Ascorbic Acid Nutritional Status Does Not Affect the Biochemical Response to Paraquat. SULLIVAN, T. M., AND MONTGOMERY, M. R. (1984). Fundam. Appl. Toxicol. 4, 754759. Guinea pigs were subjected to dietary control of ascorbic acid intake to produce deficient, normal, and supplemented tissue ascorbate concentrations. Paraquat, a potent pulmonary toxin, was then administered. Tissue distribution and covatent binding of paraquat were not affected significantly by ascorbate nutritional status except for decreased 24-hr kidney burdens in deficient animals. Paraquat increased pulmonary thiobarbituric acid reactivity and mixed disulfide formation, but no evidence of either a protective or a potentiative interaction of endogenous ascorbate and paraquat was observed. This study indicates that alteration of endogenous ascorbic acid levels does not alter the biochemical response to paraquat.