RESUMEN
The aim of this study was to verify the protective effects of ascorbic acid (AsA) against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced sepsis. The study was conducted using osteogenic disorder Shionogi (ODS) rats, which are unable to synthesize AsA. Male ODS rats (6 wk old) were fed either an AsA-free diet (AsA-deficient group), a diet supplemented with 300 mg/kg AsA (control group), or a diet supplemented with 3,000 mg/kg AsA (high-AsA group) for 8 d. On day 8, all the rats were intraperitoneally injected with LPS (15 mg/kg body weight). Forty-eight hours after the injection, the survival rates of the rats in the control (39%) and the high-AsA (61%) groups were significantly higher than that in the AsA-deficient group (5.5%). Next, we measured several inflammatory parameters during 10 h after administering LPS. At 6 h, elevated serum levels of markers for hepatic and systemic injuries were suppressed in rats fed AsA. Similarly, 10 h after LPS injection, the elevation in the serum levels of markers for renal injury were also suppressed proportionally to the amount of AsA in the diet. The elevated serum concentrations of TNFα and IL-1ß by LPS in the AsA-deficient group decreased in groups fed AsA. Hematic TNFα mRNA levels at 6 h after the LPS injection were also lowered by feeding AsA. These results demonstrated that the dietary intake of AsA improved the survival rates and suppressed the inflammatory damage, in a dose-dependent manner, caused during sepsis induced by LPS in ODS rats.