404 J. D. MARKS AND H. K. BERRY 
deficient diet compared to specimens from the pregnant female fed a complete diet- 
However, alanine excretion increased 16-fold in the non-deficient animal and 500- 
fold in the deficient animal during the same period. The extreme alteration in alanine 
excretion may be noted in Fig. 1. 6-Alanine and aspartic acid were also detected 
during the period of acute deficiency. 
DISCUSSION 
The importance of pantothenic acid in the synthesis of Coenzyme A is well-established 
(SLATER, 1953). With-holding pantothenate from the diet of a rat would be expected 
to inhibit the tricarboxylic acid cycle in the tissues with resulting accumulation of 
pyruvate. In the presence of excess pyruvate, the glutamic—pyruvic transamination 
reaction should result in an excessive production and excretion of alanine. This 
possibility was demonstrated to occur. Reversal of the effect was produced by 
addition of pantothenate to the diet. 
The excretion of taurine by pregnant rats, either in complete or pathothenatedefi- 
cient diet, and by pantothenate-deficient male rats is of interest. Taurine is known to 
be produced by way of several metabolic pathways! 3. &*. The major source appears 
to be decarboxylation of cysteic acid. PENTZ et al.® reported that taurine excretion 
by patients with known or suspected adrenocortical disorders sharply increased after 
treatment with ACTH or g-a-fluorohydrocortisone. These workers suggested that a 
relationship exists between adrenocortical function and taurine excretion. 
In 1952 Hur ey ef al.!° reported that pantothenate deficiency in the rat caused 
release of ACTH, which stimulated the adrenals to secrete adrenocortical hormone 
until exhaustion occurred. Both pregnancy and pantothenate deficiency cause a 
metabolic stress. The results of this investigation support the suggestion of PENTZ 
et al. that taurine excretion is related to adrenocortical function. It is possible that 
taurine excretion is a biological index of adrenal activity and may be useful as a 
diagnostic criterion. Further experiments to test this hypothesis are planned. 
Similar investigations may be useful for the interpretation of patterns of amino- 
aciduria observed in human beings. Cases of high alanine excretion in children, 
observed infrequently in urine samples in this laboratory, may be indicative of 
excessive requirements for pantothenate. Likewise, elevated taurine excretion may 
be indicative of a state of metabolic stress in the individual. 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
The authors are indebted to Mrs. E. Takacs for consultation and assistance with the 
management of pregnant rats in this study. 
This investigation was supported in part by a research grant (MA-1175) from 
the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Public Health Service. 
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