The effect of chronic marginal vitamin C deficiency on the rate of secretion and the removal of plasma triglycerides in guinea-pigs.

In guinea-pigs, chronic borderline vitamin C deficiency leads to hypertriglyceridaemia and to the accumulation of triglycerides in the liver. We investigated the triglyceride secretion rate by determining the rate of accumulation of triglycerides in the plasma following a Triton WR 1339 block of the their removal from the plasma (experiment 1) and the rate of the removal of triglycerides from the plasma by mathematical analysis of the specific plasma triglyceride activity - time curve after the administration of 3H-glycerol (experiment 2). In the 14th and 16th week of the experiment it was found that borderline vitamin C deficiency slowed down the triglyceride secretion rate, prolonged the half-time and reduced fractional plasma triglyceride turnover. The balance shift between the rate of the uptake and removal of very low density lipoprotein triglycerides (VLDL-TG) in the plasma compartment (greater retardation of the catabolic phase of kinetics) is probably the reason why triglycerides accumulate in the plasma and liver compartment of guinea-pigs with borderline vitamin C deficiency.