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Ascorbic acid influences proliferation of RPE cells in lab study
Ascorbic acid has a dose-dependent influence on the proliferation of vital adult retinal pigment epithelium cells, a laboratory study found. This may indicate that ascorbic acid plays a role in preventing proliferative vitreoretinopathy, the study authors suggested.
A. Heckelen and colleagues incubated adult retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells in vitro with increasing concentrations of ascorbic acid. The culture medium containing the ascorbic acid was replaced with normal culture medium, and the recovery of proliferation was assessed after 24 hours.
The authors found that, in concentrations above 2 mmol, ascorbic acid significantly inhibited RPE cell proliferation. Proliferation in all cell cultures resumed after incubation with ascorbic acid, indicating that direct toxicity of ascorbic acid is a negligible factor.
The study is published in Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica.