Handbook of Vitamin C Research

In: Handbook of Vitamin C Research ISBN: 978-1-60741-874-0Editors: Hubert Kucharski and Julek Zajac©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.Chapter XVIIShortage of Vitamin CAccelerates AgingAkihito IshigamiDepartment of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences,Toho University, Chiba, JapanIntroductionVitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) has a well-documented, strong anti-oxidant function, evidentas its ability to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells and blood (1-5).Additionally, an anti-aging effect has been attributed to vitamin C stemming from its deletionof ROS; however, no scientific evidence has yet proven this assertion. Therefore, wemanipulated mice to insert a gene deletion that disabled their ability to synthesize vitamin C.In these mice baited with small amounts of vitamin C, we could ascertain that agingprogressed faster than in their wild type counterparts. This report gives a full account of therelationship between vitamin C and the aging process while describing our study results.Senescence Marker Protein-30 (SMP30) Decreases with AgingIn 1991, SMP30 was originally identified as a novel protein in the rat liver, theexpression of which decreases androgen-independently with aging (6-11). To examine thephysiological function of SMP30, we established SMP30 knockout mice (Figure 1). Thesemice were viable and fertile although, when fed autoclaved mouse chow containing ~55mg/kg of vitamin C, were lower in body weight and shorter in life span than the wild typeAkihito Ishigami, Ph.D. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toho University,Miyama 2-2-1, Funabashi, Chiba 274-8510, Japan. Phone/FAX: +81-47-472-1536, E-mail:ishigami@phar.toho-u.ac.jp