Further Observations on Vitamin C Therapy in Experimental Poliomyelitis

1. A group of 181 monkeys were infected intracerebrally with amounts of virus ranging from 0.01 to 0.05 cc. of a 10 per cent virus suspension. At different intervals following infection treatment of these animals was begun with daily injections of 5 to 100 mg. of natural vitamin C for a period of 2 weeks. Of 89 monkeys treated on the 1st or 2nd day of infection 26 (29.2 per cent) survived without showing any evidence of paralysis; of 53 monkeys treated on the 3rd day of the infection 23 (43.3 per cent) survived without showing any evidence of paralysis; of 39 monkeys treated on the 5th day of the infection 9 (23 per cent) survived without showing any evidence of paralysis. 2. A group of 101 monkeys were infected intracerebrally with amounts of virus ranging from 0.05 to 0.1 cc. of a 10 per cent virus suspension. At different intervals following infection treatment of these animals was begun with daily injections of 5 to 100 mg. of synthetic vitamin C for a period of 2 weeks. Of 25 monkeys treated on the 1st day of infection 2 (8 per cent) survived without showing any evidence of paralysis; of 26 monkeys treated on the 3rd day of the infection 5 (19.2 per cent) survived without showing any evidence of paralysis; of 50 monkeys treated on the 4th and 5th day of the infection 4 (8 per cent) survived without showing any evidence of paralysis. 3. The above two groups of treated animals were accompanied by a group of 98 control monkeys which were infected intracerebrally with the same amounts of virus and remained untreated. In this group there were 5 (5.1 per cent) animals which survived without showing any evidence of paralysis. 4. The figures, taken as a whole, show that among 181 monkeys treated with natural vitamin C 58 (32 per cent) survived without paralysis, and among 101 monkeys treated with synthetic vitamin C 11 (10.8 per cent) survived without paralysis. In comparing the percentage of non-paralytic survivors of the two treated groups with that of the untreated controls (5.1 per cent) it is found that about six times as many animals escaped paralysis following treatment with natural vitamin C as did the corresponding controls. In the group of animals treated with synthetic vitamin C, on the other hand, there were only about twice as many non-paralytic survivors as among the controls. 5. The results obtained in this investigation, as far as they are concerned with the therapeutic effect of natural vitamin C in experimental poliomyelitis, are in close agreement with the data previously published.