Ascorbic acid deficiency and pituitary adrenocortical activity in the guinea-pig

1. Guinea-pigs kept on a diet deficient in ascorbic acid lost weight and became moribund in about 24 days.2. The adrenal ascorbic acid concentration fell rapidly during the first 2 weeks, and the plasma corticosteroid concentration and 17-oxogenic steroid excretion rose sharply in the third week of ascorbic acid deficiency.3. Both histamine and corticotrophin increased the plasma corticosteroid concentration when injected during the second week but failed to change the pre-existing high concentration of the steroid in the third week of ascorbic acid deficiency.4. The observations confirm that ascorbic acid is not involved in corticoidogenesis and that scurvy is a severe stress which increases adrenocortical activity to such an extent that the rate of synthesis of corticosteroids is incapable of matching the rate of their release.