Effect of Ascorbic Acid on Interleukin-2 Secretion By T Lymphocytes in Whole Blood Cultures

The effect of vitamin C on T lymphocyte function is not clear. In-vivo supplementation of vitamin C is found to have a stimulatory effect on T cells while studies in which ascorbic acid was added to T cell cultures show an inhibition of cell function. The study aims to investigate the effect of ascorbic acid on interleukin-2 secretion by T cells in whole blood cultures which better resembles the physiological environment than pure T cell cultures. It was found that ascorbic acid, when added to whole blood cultures at a very high concentration of 1 mM, inhibits interleukin-2 secretion by T cells (p<0.05). However at lower concentrations of 0.25 mM and 0.5 mM significant inhibition was not seen which is contrary to earlier reports in pure T cell cultures. Hence it can be concluded that ascorbic acid inhibits T cell function in-vitro at high concentrations but the effect is relatively less in whole blood cultures compared to pure T cell cultures.