Immuno bionet readers,
This is a follow-up to my posting of 11-Mar-98 regarding Dr. Mark
Levine's studies on Vitamin C and neutrophils. I suggested that there
would be a similar result with macrophages which are phagocytes like
neutrophils but in tissue. Since it is difficult to measure the amount
of Vitamin C absorbed by macrophages, one could take the reverse scheme
and measure the reduction of Vitamin C levels in plasma when the immune
system is challenged in a way that involves the macrophages. The most
obvious way to do this is by some sort of attack or injection to the
skin or external muscle tissue. One would have to measure the pattern
of decline of vitamin C in plasma, after ingesting a dose, to establish
a reference when the immune system is not challenged. Then the test
would be repeated with the challenge being presented two hours after
ingesting the Vitamin C. The difference should also be dependent by
the strength of the challenge. This would be an in vivo test.
Regards, Ralph L. Samson
