Studies on the ascorbic acid metabolism of callitrichid monkeys by 14C isotope excretion technique.

Recently it has been found that the two monkey species Callithrix jacchus and Saguinus fuscicollis, both belonging to the same New World monkey family Callitrichidae and held in the same colony under identical conditions, had extremely different serum ascorbate levels. To examine the ascorbic acid metabolism the 14C-excretion of orally given 1-14C-ascorbic acid was studied under conditions of marginal and abundant vitamin C supply and under intentional stress. There were large differences in the mode of 14C excretion between low and high ascorbate supply. The differences were smaller between stress/no stress conditions intraindividually than between the two species, but they were in the same manner. In comparable trials S. fuscicollis reacted such that a higher status of stress can be supposed in this species.