A protective role for ascorbic acid during inflammatory episodes in the eye.

During an experimentally induced inflammatory response in the rabbit eye, the decrease in the ascorbic acid concentration within the aqueous humor corresponded, in large part, to the infiltration of leukocytes into this ocular fluid. Additional in vitro studies demonstrated that activated leukocytes reacted with ascorbic acid, diminishing the concentration of this vitamin in the surrounding medium. We suggest that the very high concentrations of ascorbic acid found in the aqueous humor of a number of species affords extracellular protection for the ocular tissues against oxygen radicals and metabolites released by infiltrating leukocytes during ocular inflammation.