PANTOTHENIC ACID AND ADRENOCORTICAL HORMONE SECRETION1

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Abstract
A TTENTION was first drawn to the relationship between panthothenic JLJL. acid and the adrenal cortex by the experiments of Daft and Morgan 1, 2), in which it was demonstrated that adrenal hypertrophy, hemorrhage, and necrosis were prominent manifestations of pantothenic acid deficiency in animals. These observations were confirmed and extended by Deane and McKibbin (3) who found, using histochemical techniques, that the adrenal cortex of pantothenate-deficient animals has a reduced content of lipids, sudanophilic material, and ketosteroid. In addition to structural alterations, recent studies by Winters (4, 5, 6), Hurley and Mackenzie (7), and Duram (8) suggest that there is also functional impairment of the adrenal cortex in pantothenate-deficient rats. Although these investigations have indicated that there is diminished secretion of steroid hormones by the adrenals of deficient animals, cortical hormone production was measured indirectly.