| trade name: generic; many brand names; drug class: vitamin C, water-soluble vitamin; action: needed for wound healing, collagen synthesis, antioxidant, carbohydrate metabolism; uses: vitamin C deficiency, scurvy, delayed wound and bone healing, chronic disease, urine acidification, before gastrectomy; (vitamin C, antiscorbutic factor), a water-soluble vitamin resembling glucose in structure; it is found in citrus fruits, tomatoes, cabbage, and other fresh fruits and vegetables. Necessary for hydroxylation of peptide-bound lysine and proline to hydroxylysine and hydroxyproline during collagen synthesis. A deficiency leads to scurvy, in which pathologic signs are confined mainly to the connective tissues with hemorrhages, loosening of teeth, gingivitis, and poor wound healing. |