EFFECT OF ESTROGEN ON THE UTILIZATION OF THE VITAMIN B COMPLEX

Abstract
In previously recorded clinical observations1 we have reported evidence indicating an interrelation between hormones of the anterior lobe of the pituitary and the utilization of the vitamin B complex. In a number of instances, pellagra refractive to vitamin therapy was cured or improved by the parenteral administration of the whole extract of the anterior lobe of the pituitary or of an anterior pituitary extract containing the growth-stimulating or gonadotropic factor.2 The evaluation of the effects of the growth-stimulating or gonadotropic substance is somewhat vitiated by the inability to exclude the possibility that other factors are present in the solutions administered. The possible effect of any vitamin B complex in these extracts is remote when considered in relation to the amounts of vitamin B complex previously administered. The effect of the anterior lobe of the pituitary on the utilization of the vitamin B complex may be the result of