Researchers from the Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Copenhagen, who were studying the link between Vitamin C and brain development, inferred that deficit levels of the vitamin can pose a risk to the mental health of newborn babies.
Jens Lykkesfeldt, professor of pharmacology and toxicology who led the study stated, “We speculate that the lack of vitamin C supplementation in high-risk individuals, such as pregnant women and newborns with poor vitamin C status, could be detrimental to normal brain development and lead to neurologic disabilities later in life.”
In the study, researchers used guinea pigs as their subjects because, like human beings, they are unable to produce vitamin C in their bodies and are dependent on diet for their daily intake.
Details of the study
The team divided 30 newborn guinea pigs into two groups. One group was administered a normal diet with sufficient vitamin C, while the second group was fed a diet low on vitamin C.
After a period of two months, the brains of the guinea pig babies were analyzed. The cognitive abilities of the animals were tested in a water maze, and the hippocampal neuron numbers were measured.
The investigators noted that guinea pigs subjected to a vitamin C deficient diet had a worse spatial memory than those fed a normal diet.
In addition the guinea pigs lacking vitamin C exhibited 30 percent less hippocampal neurons and also performed poorly in the maze tests.
Implications of the study
Speculating on the results, the scientists stated that the highest concentration of vitamin C is found in the neurons of the brain. Even when the intake of vitamin C is low, the remaining vitamin is preserved in the brain to protect it.
Studies reveal that mouse foetuses that cannot transport vitamin C develop acute brain damage similar to that found in premature babies, which is linked to impaired learning and cognitive disabilities in later years.
Jens Lykkesfeldt said, “We may be witnessing children getting learning disabilities because they have not got enough vitamin C in their early life. (It is) so easy to prevent this deficiency by giving a vitamin supplement to high-risk pregnant women and new mothers.”
The findings of the study have been published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
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