Overview of <i>In Vivo</i> Study.

<p>Eighty pregnant guinea pigs were weight-stratified into two groups at gestational day 18. Group High (n = 30) was assigned to a diet containing 900 mg of vitamin C per kg diet and group Low (n = 50) received a diet containing 100 mg of vitamin C per kg. Otherwise, diets were identical. Newborn pups were assigned to either of four dietary groups (CTRL, DEF, DEPL or REPL) by weight stratification. Weaned male pups (n = 83) received a daily BrdU injection (100 mg/kg body weight) between post-natal day (P) 5 and P9 and were sacrificed either at P10 or P27. Female animals (n = 77) did not receive BrdU. A subset (n = 36) were submitted to two consecutive tests in the non-cued Morris water maze (MWM) initiated at P24 and P52. A cued test (c-MWM) was performed on age-matched pups from both CTRL and DEF groups (n = 5 and n = 6, respectively) at P35. All female pups were sacrificed at approximately two months of age (P70). Biochemical and histochemical analyses were performed as indicated on the scheme.