384 INOSITOLS 



have pointed out the necessity not only of dose-response curves but also 

 of standardized dietary conditions for estimating requirements. These 

 investigators observed that the lipotropic effect exerted by inositol when 

 it is administered with fat-free diets is absent when the diet contains fat. 

 Beveridge et al}^ in their studies with other lipotropic agents noted the 

 influence of protein on the effect of these agents. In another study, Beve- 

 ridge and Lucas^^ stated the opinion that the antagonistic effect of corn oil 

 on the lipotropic action of inositol might be due to the glycerides of the 

 essential fatty acids. Pertinent to this problem are the investigations of 

 Dam and Glavind^" and Dam,^^ who showed that the effect of cod liver oil 

 in increasing the exudative diathesis of vitamin E-deficient chicks may be 

 counteracted by inositol. Handler-^ obtained suggestive evidence of a syner- 

 gistic activity of inositol and tocopherol in his studies on the inhibition of 

 the lipotropic action of inositol by unsaturated fatty acids. 



The role of B vitamins in increasing the lipotropic action of choline has 

 been demonstrated by Gavin et alP and McFarland and McHenry.^^ 

 The observation of Sure^^ that, in the albino rat, inositol has an injurious 

 influence on lactation which is counteracted by p-aminobenzoic acid is at 

 variance with that of Climenko and McChesney,^^ who in the same species 

 found that the addition of inositol to a diet containing B vitamins resulted 

 in normal lactation. p-Aminobenzoic acid in these experiments had no sig- 

 nificant influence on the effect of the inositol. Martin and Ansbacher" 

 and Martin^^ had previously studied the effects of adding inositol and p- 

 aminobenzoic acid to a diet containing thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, 

 choline, nicotinic acid, and calcium pantothenate and reported that the 

 addition of one produced a deficiency syndrome of the other. However, 

 Ershoff^^ was unable to confirm these observations. Pantothenic acid was 

 found by Woolley^" to influence alopecia in mice. Concomitant administra- 

 tion of magnesium was found by Muset^^ to increase the effect of inositol 



18 J. M. R. Beveridge, C. C. Lucas, and M. K. O'Grady, /. Biol. Chem. 154, 9 (1944); 

 ibid. 160, 505 (1945). 



19 J. M. R. Beveridge and C. C. Lucas, ./. Biol. Chem. 157, 311 (1945). 

 2" H. Dam and J. Glavind, Science 96, 235 (1942). 



21 H. Dam, /. Nutrition 27, 193 (1944); ibid. 28, 289 (1944). 



22 P. Handler, J. Biol. Chem. 162, 77 (1946). 



23 G. Gavin, J. M. Patterson, and E. W. McHenry, /. Biol. Chem. 148, 275 (1943). 



24 M. L. MacFarland and E. W. McHenry, /. Biol. Chem. 176, 429 (1948). 



25 B. Sure, J. Nutrition 26, 275 (1943). 



26 D. R. Climenko and E. W. McChesney, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 51, 157 (1942). 



27 G. J. Martin and S. Ansbacher, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 48, 118 (1941). 



28 G. J. Martin, Am. J. Phxjsiol. 136, 124 (1942). 



29 B. H. Ershoff, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 56, 190 (1944). 



30 D. W. Woolley, J. Biol. Chem. 140, 461 (1941); /. Nutrition 2^ Snppl., 17 (1941). 



31 P. Puig Muset, Acta Med. Hispanica 36, (1947). 



