Pantothenic acid signs

Pantothenic acid and biotin were thus found to be growth factors for yeast. Like riboflavin these molecules are incorporated into larger molecules in order to exert their essential metabolic function. Unlike the other vitamins there has been no evidence of pathological signs in man which can be attributed to dietary deficiencies in biotin or pantothenic acid. 

Many different types of lesions have been observed (very often at autopsy) in animals suffering from severe pantothenic acid deficiency. These may involve the skin, the adrenals, the entire gastrointestinal tract, nerves, and spinal cord. Functionally, in chickens fertility may be reduced by pantothenic acid deficiency to practically zero64 without any outward signs being shown by the fowls. Recently, pantothenic acid deficiency has been found to produce duodenal ulcers in about 60 per cent of the rats tested.65 It is required for bone development66 and is implicated in antibody responses.67... 

Experimental pantothemc acid depletion, sometimes together with the administration of -methyl pantothenic acid, results in the following signs and symptoms after 2 to 3 weeks ... 

Hedley and Yudkin (1959) reported that the inclusion of 10% sorbitol in the diets of young rats prevented the occurrence of signs of pantothenic acid deficiency such as decreased weight gain. Similar results were reported by Herndon et al. (1959). 

Dietary ascorbic a( id also prevents the development of pantothenic acid deficiency. This was first reported by Daft (1951), using 2% ascorbic acid in the diet. Not all the rats were protected, however, and some died with typical deficiency signs (Daft, 1951 Daft and Schwarz, 1952). Similar results have been reported by Hundley and Ing (1953) and by Barboriak and Krehl (1957). Hundley and Ing report that isoascorbic acid also spares pantothenic acid. Terroine (1959) makes the point that the growth of rats given ascorbic acid is not quite as good as that of the control rats receiving pantothenic acid. All the authors stress that the characteristic achromotricia of deficiency is not prevented in all animals. 

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