The physiological role of dehydroascorbic acid

Dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) is abundant in the human diet and also is generated from vitamin C (ascorbic acid, AA) in the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract. DHA is absorbed from the lumen of the small intestine and reduced to AA, which subsequently circulates in the blood. Utilization of AA as an antioxidant and enzyme cofactor causes its oxidation to DHA in extracellular fluid and cells. DHA has an important role in many cell types because it can be used to regenerate AA. Both physiological (e.g. insulin, insulin-like growth factor 1, cyclic AMP) and pathological (e.g. oxidative stress, diabetes, sepsis) factors alter the transport and metabolic mechanisms responsible for this DHA recycling. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.