624 PANTOTHENIC ACID 



TABLE X^s 

 Inhibition of Lipid Synthesis by Pantoyl-Tauryl-Anisidide (PTA); Partial 



Release by LBF 



C.p.m./g. tissue 

 No. PTA LBF, mg./7.5ml. 



— 0.5 



3.7 X 10-3 M — 



3.7 X 10-3 M 0.5 



— 1.0 



1.5 X 10-3 M — 



1.5 X 10-3 M i_o 



In view of the sensitivity of fat and steroid synthesis to various nu- 

 tritional effects,^*'* results obtained by the use of a pantothenic acid anti- 

 metabolite are of significance. Klein found (cf. Table X) that pantoyl- 

 tauryl-anisidide suppresses fat and steroid synthesis without appreciably 

 influencing respiration. Under certain conditions he also could demonstrate 

 an antagonism between pantethine^'' and pantoyl-tauryl-anisidide,'^ while 

 free pantothenic acid appeared inactive. 



In view of the much-discussed, rather specific relationship of panto- 

 thenic acid to the adrenal cortex, recently reviewed by A. F. Morgan*^ 

 (cf. also ref. 58), a participation of CoA in the synthesis of steroids assumes 

 special importance. As mentioned before, CoA is very abundant in the 

 adrenal gland, *^ and it declines in pantothenic acid deficiency obviously in 

 parallel with a depletion of steroids. A confirmation of this view seems to 

 derive from the recent work of Cowgill and his associates,^"" who report 

 that adrenal degeneration in pantothenic acid-deficient rats may be pre- 

 vented by corticosterol. 



G. CONCLUSION 



Since the discovery of CoA, the function of pantothenic acid has been 

 relegated to the metabolic territory of acetyl transfer in particular, and to 

 that of acyl transfer in a more general sense. The relative abundance of 

 pantothenic acid as CoA in living cells, e.g., up to 400 mg. of CoA per kilo- 

 gram of liver is explained by the variety of the metabolic reactions medi- 

 ated by this coenzyme. It appears that CoA is involved in the primary 



^^^ S. Gurin, private communication. 



100 G. R. Cowgill, R. W. Winters, R. B. Schultz, and W. A. Krehl, International Congress 

 on Vitamins (Havana, Cuba), report in The New York Times, January 26, 1952. 



