Vitamin C is known as an integral element for the formation and maintenance of intercellular supporting structures.
Ascorbic acid has been used for the treatment of certain poisonings and hypovitaminosis(scurvy) but also known as a powerful reducing agent, and can kill a variety of bacteria and detoxify bacterial exotoxins including various clostridial exotoxins in vitro. For viruses, vitamin C inactivates herpes virus, vaccinia virus and influenza virus and has been used for the prevention and treatment of the common cold.
Thus ascorbic acid plays. an important role in antimicrobial action.
Scurvy also promotes the development of tubercles in experimentally infected guinea pig and the tuberculosis patients require more vitamin C than normal persons.
However there is no reports that ascorbic´ acid could inhibit the growh of 14. tuberculosis. In this paper, antibacterial effects of ascorbic acid against M. tuberculosis were studied. The results are as follows
1. The single use of the ascorbic acid exhibited antibacterial effect in vitro against 5 X 10´ /ml of N4. tuberculosis H,, Rv.at the concentration of ascorbic acid 0.625mg/ml over 3 hours exposure and 0.05 mg/ml over 9 hours exposure.
2. In vivo mice administered with ascorbic acid 50mg/day for 5, 10 and 15 days respectively were protected from 1b1I tuberculosis 2LD5Q, 3LD5,, 4LD5e and 5LD5o given intravenously.
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