EFFECT OF DIETARY VITAMIN-C ON COMPRESSION INJURY OF THE SPINAL-CORD IN A RAT MUTANT UNABLE TO SYNTHESIZE ASCORBIC-ACID AND ITS CORRELATIONWITH THAT OF VITAMIN-E

The roles of vitamin C on secondary pathological changes after spinal cord injury were investigated by evaluating the effects of dietary vit amin C on experimental spinal cord injury in a mutant strain of Wistar rats unable to synthesize ascorbic acid (ODS rats). Two groups of ODS rats were given vitamin C-deficient or vitamin C-supplemented diet fo r 1 week before injury. Motor disturbance induced by spinal cord injur y was found to be greater in the vitamin C-deficient group. Histologic ally, the area of bleeding in the spinal cord was also greater in the vitamin C-deficient group. The levels of ascorbic acid and a-tocophero l in the spinal cord tissue and serum decreased during and after compr ession injury of the spinal cord. The decrease of cc-tocopherol was si milar in the two groups. However, the decrease of ascorbic acid was gr eater in the vitamin C-supplemented group. These results indicated tha t their protective effects against spinal cord injury are through scav enging water-soluble free radicals by vitamin C and lipid-soluble by v itamin E, and the effects of these vitamins were suggested to be indep endent.