Studies of Lipogenesis in Certain B-Vitamin Deficiencies

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Abstract
Thiamine, pantothenic acid, biotin, and choline deficiency were produced in young male rats. Experimental animals with ad libitum and pair-fed controls were given radioactive carboxyl-labeled acetate in their food over a period of three days. At the end of this time the animals were killed and their livers examined for fatty acids and cholesterol, and their heart, adrenals, and blood serum analyzed for cholesterol. C14 incorporation in fatty acids and in cholesterol was determined. In none of the nutritional disorders studied here was any effect of the deficiency upon the specific activity of liver fatty acids and liver, heart, and serum cholesterol noted. Total incorporation of radioactive carbon in the liver fatty acids and cholesterol varied as a result of changes in the absolute amount of these lipids in liver. The specific activity of adrenal cholesterol was found to be decreased in all types of deficiencies and also in the pairfed controls. Pair-fed controls behaved like their respective deficient groups except with respect to total liver fatty acids and activity in the choline-deficient series. These results support the view that lipogenesis per se is not specifically altered in these deficiencies.