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The effects of birth on tissue and serum ascorbate levels as well as the influence of maternal hypoxia on fetal tissue and serum ascorbate levels were investigated. Serum and adrenal ascorbate levels in neonatal swine were drastically decreased when compared with near-term (112-day-old) fetal swine. Kidney, cardiac, and muscle ascorbate levels also were found to be decreased on birth although liver levels in the newborn rose significantly above fetal levels. Hypoxic stress produced by decreasing the oxygen concentration in the maternal gas supply produced effects in 112-day-old fetal pigs which were similar to those noted for birth. An hypothesis was presented to explain the observation in which it was suggested that ascorbate may have a key role in the mechanism by which the fetal pig successfully coped with the stress of birth.
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Brown et al. (1972) studied this question.
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