IX. EFFECTS OF DEFICIENCY 657 



been made by Gyorgy and associates^^"''^ soon after pyridoxine first became 

 available. These investigators described the lesion as an exfoliative dermati- 

 tis. Scaliness was observed most frequently in the region of the abdomen, 

 head, groin, and acillae. In the following years, most other investigators in 

 the field observed some degree of dermatitis in animals receiving thiamine, 

 ribofla\dn, and pyridoxine but deficient in pantothenic acid. After pure 

 pantothenate became available, it was widely noted that these lesions re- 

 sponded to its administration.^-^' 31-42. 71-73 Sullivan and Nicholls, in their 

 series of studies on nutritional dermatoses in the rat, investigated the effect 

 of this deficiency.'^* They described the lesions of pantothenic acid deficiency 

 as generalized scaling, small eczematous crusted plaques, diffuse alopecia 

 of the venter and the preauricular regions, and alopecia with or without 

 inflammation in the circumocular regions. They reported that the histologi- 

 cal lesions consisted of milk hyperkeratosis, acanthosis, occasionally para- 

 keratosis, a small amount of edema and vesiculation, dilatation of the hair 

 follicles, and, in the late stages, disintegration of the sebaceous glands in 

 the areas of alopecia. To most observers, the dermatitis has not been a 

 striking feature of pantothenic acid deficiency in the rat. 



Collins et alP" have reported that rats kept under conditions of low rela- 

 tive humidity developed dermatitis, whereas those kept at 50 % relative 

 humidity or above did not. 



g. Other Pathological Changes 



Other pathological changes reported as occurring in pantothenic acid- 

 deficient rats are hemorrhages into the gastrointestinal tract with abscesses 

 and macrophage accumulation in the submucosa;*- ''^^ reduction of spermato- 

 genesis and other signs of damage to the testes;*' ^ lesions of the 

 kidney,*' i"' ^^' liver,*' i" and heart;*' ^^ hemosiderin deposition in the 

 spleen;*' ^ inhibition of skeletal growth (cartilage hypoplasia);^' ^^- *" atro- 

 phy of the thymus;!"' ^^- ^^ and changes in the bone marrow, ranging from 

 impairment of hematopoiesis*" to the almost complete aplasia which has 

 been discussed in an earlier paragraph. ^^ ---^ Although some degree of some 

 of the above changes can be brought about by inanition alone (e.g., reduc- 

 es P. Gyorgy, /. Am. Chem. Sac. 60, 983 (1938). 



76 P. Gyorgy and R. E. Eckardt, Nature 144, 512 (1939). 



77 P. Gyorgy, C. E. Poling, and Y. SubbaRow, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 42, 738 

 (1939). 



'8 M. Sullivan and J. Nicholls, Arch. Dermatol, and Syphilol. 45, 917 (1942). 



'8° R. A. Collins, M. Schreiber, and C. A. Elvehjem, ./. Nutrition 49, 589 (1953). 



''«'' J. J. Vitale, D. M. Ilegstod, J. Di Giorgio, and N. Zamchock, Mctaboli.^m 2, 367 



(1953). 

 73 G. C. Supplee, R. C. Bender, and O. J. Kahlenberg, Endocrinology 30, 355 (1942). 

 80 M. M. Nelson, E. Sulon, H. Becks, W. W. Wainwright, and H. M. Evans, Proc. 



Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 73, 31 (1950). 



