The behavior of L-ascorbic acid in the healing process of dorsal wounds in guinea pigs

The behavior of L-ascorbic acid (AsA) in the healing process of wounds in guinea pigs was investigated by determining AsA and dehydroascorbic acid (DAsA) levels. Dorsal skin wounds of guinea pigs fed AsA-deficient diets for 10 days were surgically induced, and the animals were intraperitoneally supplemented with 0, 0.5, 5, 50 mg/day of AsA for 4 days, respectively. The animals were sacrificed, and the amounts of AsA and DAsA in healing skin wound and intact skin were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). It was found that total AsA levels in the healing wound of the animals in AsA-supplemented groups were almost similar to those in intact skin, respectively. However, DAsA levels in the healing wounds on day 4 of the healing period are significantly higher than those not only in the intact skin but also in the completely regenerated skin on day 14 of the healing period. From these results, it was suggested that the wound healing process was accompanied by the oxidation of AsA, moreover, the reduction of DAsA to AsA did not sufficiently occur in vivo.