Guinea pig diet — mandatory dietary vitamin C; no endogenous synthesis
The text below is reproduced verbatim from the first-hand source (Merck Veterinary Manual).
> Guinea pigs of all ages require a dietary source of vitamin C. They are incapable of endogenous synthesis because they have a mutated gene for L-gulonolactone oxidase. A lack of vitamin C leads to defective type IV collagen, laminin, and elastin. > They are incapable of endogenous synthesis because they have a mutated gene for L-gulonolactone oxidase.
Source: pdf-raw/exotic-toxicology/guinea-pig.txt (first-hand professional veterinary reference, tag-stripped).
Claims (verified C1 substrings of source_file)
Guinea pigs of all ages require a dietary source of vitamin C. They are incapable of endogenous synthesis because they have a mutated gene for L-gulonolactone oxidase. A lack of vitamin C leads to defective type IV collagen, laminin, and elastin.They are incapable of endogenous synthesis because they have a mutated gene for L-gulonolactone oxidase.