MICROBIOLOGICAL ASSAY OF PANTOTHENIC ACID IN BLOOD AND URINE

Abstract

Quantitative determination of pantothenic acid in blood and urine was made, fractionating into the free and bound forms and the following results were obtained. Total pantothenic acid was measurable with the use of Lipmann''s enzymes, while the free form can be determined without enzymatic treatment. The bound form, therefore, could be calculated by subtracting the free form from the total value. Better results were obtained with half the concentration of Lipmann''s solution. Enzymatic treatment gave higher total values than autolysis, indicating the importance of enzymatic treatment. Since the bound pantothenic acid in the blood could be degraded, in part, into the free form by autolysis, it is necessary that the measurement of the free form should be made as soon as possible to avoid autolysis. The total pantothenic acid levels in the blood of 30 healthy adults were found to be 464.2 [plus or minus]41, the bound form 435.5 [plus or minus] 37, and the free form 28.7 [plus or minus] 15 m[mu]g/ml. The total urinary pantothenic acid of adults was 3.24 [plus or minus] 0.6, and the free form 3.23 [plus or minus] 0.6 mg/day, suggesting that the enzymatic treatment is not necessary, since urinary pantothenic acid is predominantly in the free form.