Table 3.

Principal findings of postnatal vitamin C deficiency in the brain—findings from guinea pigs.

VitC	Strain	Time-Point	Principal Findings	Ref
Depletion	Dunkin Hartley	PD2–3 wks	Increased lipid peroxidation (MDA), increased protein carbonyls, induced DNA-based excision.	[24]
Severe deficiency	Dunkin Hartley	PD7–11 wks	No effects on the investigated hippocampal structures or synaptic plasticity markers and BDNF in cortex, hippocampus or striatum.	[184]
Deficiency			No additional apparent differences compared to severe deficiency.
Pre- and postnatal deficiency	Dunkin Hartley	PD2–7	No effect on lipid peroxidation (MDA, 8-F2-isoprostane); GSH not different.	[221]
		PD10	Reduced hippocampal volume and reduced proliferation in hippocampal granular layer.	[74]
		PD27	Reduced hippocampal volume and increased proliferation in granular layer and subgranluar zones.
		PD70	Increased lipid peroxidation (MDA). Hippocampal volume reduction. Persistent decrease in hippocampal volume despite vitC repletion after birth.	[74,79]
Deficiency	Dunkin Hartley	PD7–9 wks	No effect on lipid peroxidation (MDA) or redox markers (SOD, GSH). Reduced neuron numbers in hippocampus. Deviated serotonin metabolites and reduced synaptophysin. Reduced spatial memory competence.	[185,266]

BDNF: brain-derived neurotrophic factor; deficiency: low vitC supplementation; depletion: no vitC supplementation; GSH: glutathione; MDA: malondialdehyde; PD: postnatal day; SOD: superoxide dismutase; wks: weeks.