Antiscorbutic activity of 6-bromo-6-deoxy-L-ascorbic acid in the guinea pig.

The antiscorbutic activity of 6-bromo-6-deoxy-L-ascorbic acid (I) in guinea pigs was compared to that of ascorbic acid (AsA). The growth test results in guinea pigs did not show any significant difference between the body weight increase in the respective 2 groups given compound (I) and that in the group given AsA. Scorbutic guinea pigs were found to completely recover from the disease after administration of the compound (I). There were no significant differences in the plasma alkaline phosphatase activity and the hydroxyproline content in the tibia between the group given compound (I) and that given AsA. The total vitamin C contents in the various tissues were similar in the 2 groups given compound (I) and the C-deficient group but they were lower than the levels for the group given AsA. It was shown that antiscorbutic activity was characteristic of compound (I) and it was almost equal to the effect of AsA.