In Vitro Formation of ß-Unsaturated Ketones by Adrenal Tissues in Ascorbic Acid Deficiency

¹ From the Department of Physiology, The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D. C.

In vitro studies on the formation of ⁴-3-ketones from the ⁵-3 ß-ol structure of dehydroepiandrosterone acetate by adrenal tissue were conducted. The adrenal tissue of normal and control guinea pigs is capable of this conversion to the extent of 0.46 µm/100 mg adrenal tissue, in the absence of any added cofactors. The conversion by adrenals of ascorbic acid-deficient animals is significantly less than this and is decreased progressively with the duration of the scorbutigenic fare. Addition of ascorbate to the incubation preparation corrects the disturbance in this process in the adrenal of the ascorbic acid-deficient animal.