374 INOSITOLS 



to patients with disorders of lipid metabolism decreased the total lipids 

 and increased the lipid phosphorus and cholesterol levels of the blood 

 during the earlier periods of treatment, but subsequently lowered both 

 the lipid phosphorus and the cholesterol concentrations as the treatment 

 was continued. They concluded that inositol may have potential value in 

 the management of atherosclerosis in man. 



Inositol has been employed in the management of several other condi- 

 tions in man. For example, on the basis of observations of Woolley^" on 

 the relationship of inositol to the gro\vth of hair in the mouse, Vorhaus 

 et aV^ administered inositol to subjects with alopecia but observed no 

 beneficial effect. Milhorat and Bartels'^^ in their observations on creatinuria 

 in patients with muscular dystrophy noted that the simultaneous adminis- 

 tration of inositol and a-tocopherol lowered the creatine output, although 

 the use of either compound alone was without effect. This effect was seen 

 only in patients in the early or moderately advanced stage of the facio- 

 scapulohumeral form of the disease and not in either the advanced stages 

 of this form or in the pseudohypertrophic type. Moreover, certain other 

 sugars such as galactose and mannose had similar effects, and the mecha- 

 nism of action of these substances is obscure. Beckmann" has confirmed 

 these observations on inositol and believes that their application may be 

 of value in the management of muscular dystrophy. On the other hand, 

 John^^ noted no effect of inositol and vitamin E on creatinuria in this 

 condition. 



In summary, it may be stated that, although on the basis of theoretical 

 considerations inositol would appear to be of therapeutic promise in cer- 

 tain pathologic states in humans, the usefulness of inositol in the manage- 

 ment of any pathologic condition in man still remains to be established. 



Inosituria. The occurrence of inosituria appears to have been noted 

 first by Cloetta,^* who in 1856 isolated inositol from the urine of a patient 

 with chronic nephritis. The observations that actually stimulated interest 

 in this subject, however, were those of Vohl,^^ who, 2 years later, isolated 

 from 18 to 20 g. of inositol per day from the urine of a patient with diabetes 

 insipidus. Inosituria as an inconstant occurrence in diabetes insipidus was 

 soon confirmed by a number of investigators, (e.g., Strauss^^ and v.d. 



7»D. W. Woolley, J. Biol. Chem. 139, 29 (1941). 



" M. G. Vorhaus, M. L. Gompertz, and A. Feder, Am. J. Digest. Diseases 10, 45 



(1943). 

 " A. T. Milhorat and W. E. Bartels, Federation Proc. 6, 414 (1947). 

 " R. Beckmann, Deut. Z. Nervenheilk. 167, 16 (1951). 

 74 S. John, Z. klin Med. 148, 245 (1951). 

 's A. Cloetta, Ann. Chem. Justus Liebigs 99, 289 (1856). 



76 H. Vohl, Arch, physiol. Heilk. 17, 410 (1858). 



77 Strauss, Dissertation, University of Tubingen, 1864. 



