PTEROYLGLUTAMIC ACID AND RELATED COMPOUNDS

Abstract

This review deals with the following phases of pteroylglutamic acid distribution, isolation, synthesis, properties (both chemical and nutritional), degradation, enzymic liberation from "conjugated" forms, assay with chicks, microbiological assay methods, pharmacology, excretion; relation to pteroic acid, pteroyltriglutamic acid, pteroylheptaglutamic acid, para-aminobenzoic acid, xanthopterin, thymine, "vit. M"; relation to tropical and nutritional macrocytic anemias, macrocytic anemia of pregnancy, Addisonian pernicious anemia, megaloblastic anemia in infancy, sprue, celiac disease, glossitis of pellagra, and radiation sickness. Nutrition of the following organisms is summarized: man, monkey, pig, dog, mink, guinea pig, rat, mouse, chicken, Aedes aegyptii, flour moth, meal worm, carpet beetle, Bacillus brassicae, B lactis acidi, Clostridium tetani, E coli, Lacto-bacillus arabinosus, L. bulgaricus D5, L. casei, L. delbruckii, L. gayonii, L. helveticus, L. pentosus, Leuconostoc mesenter-oides, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Propionibacterium pento-saceum, Streptococcus durans 98A, S. faecalis 732, S. faecalis F-24, S. faecalis R, S. faecalis S-108A, S. zymogenes 5C1, Tetrahymena geleii, yeast.