IX, EFFECTS OF DEFICIENCY 671 



the hair has been observed. The majority of subjects have been people in 

 whom premature graying of the hair had occurred, but the vitamin was 

 also given to elderly individuals with gray hair. The dosage used was more 

 than adequate (from 20 to 100 mg. of calcium pantothenate daily), so that 

 had the condition been due to deficiency of pantothenic acid it should have 

 responded. Except in an occasional subject, investigators^^^ • ^^^ did not find 

 that the administration of calcium pantothenate had any consistent effect 

 in overcoming graying of the hair. Frankly, there seems little reason to 

 infer that, because the fur of animals grayed as a result of pantothenate 

 deficiency, pantothenic acid would cure gray hair in man. In the animal, 

 the "skin" is composed of the hair follicles and bulbs with a thin overlying 

 layer of cutis. The various hair follicles and bulbs go through phases of 

 atrophy and regeneration, and the melanin content, which is responsible 

 for the pigmentation, varies according to the state of the hair follicles and 

 bulbs. In the animal, pantothenic acid is clearly responsible for maintaining 

 the integrity of the hair apparatus and in its absence atrophy of the hair 

 follicles and bulbs and loss of melanin occur. In man, obviously, the ques- 

 tion of graying of the hair depends on many factors. 



(2) Therapeutic Effects of Calcium Pantothenate or Pantothenyl Alcohol 

 on Various Skin Lesions. Therapeutic use of pantothenic acid has been 

 reported in a variety of skin lesions. The vitamin has been given orally or 

 applied topically as an ointment.^^"- ^^^ Goldman^^" treated patients with 

 discoid erythematosus of the scalp, giving 400 mg. per day, and noted im- 

 provement in the subacute type. Combes and Zuckerman--^ applied the 

 vitamin as an ointment to patients with ulcerations of the skin due to a 

 variety of causes, including ulcers due to radium therapy, traumatic ulcers, 

 arteriosclerotic ulcers, and ulcerations in patients with sickle cell anemia. 

 Pantothenic acid ointment has also been used locally in the treatment of 

 burns and infected wounds, ^^^ apparently with beneficial results. 



These findings suggest that pantothenic acid may be important to the 

 nutrition of the skin, and this may offer a parallel to the skin lesions, such 

 as scaliness and crusting, seen in animals on a pantothenic acid-deficient 

 diet. 



(3) Effect of Pantothenic Acid on the Hematopoietic System. Crisalli^-' re- 

 ported that pantothenic acid has a stimulating action on the hematopoietic 

 system in infants. However, in this respect it should be borne in mind that 



"* H. Brandaleone, E. Main, and J. M. Steele, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 53, 47 



(1943). 

 213 I. Kerlan and R. P. Herwick, J. Am. Med. Assoc. 123, 391 (1943). 



220 L. Goldman, /. Invest. Dermatol. 11, 95 (1948). 



221 F. C. Combes and R. Zuckerman, /. Invest. Dermatol. 16, 379 (1951). 



222 F. Sciclounoff and E. Naz, Schweiz. med. Wochschr. 75, 767 (1945). 



223 M. Crisalli, Boll. soc. Hal. biol. sper. 23, 1047 (1947). 



