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Medicine LibreTexts

10.6: Pantothenic Acid

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Pantothenic acid has two roles in the body:

  1. It is part of coenzyme A (CoA), this is its major role
  2. It is part of acyl carrier protein

Coenzyme A

The structure of pantothenic acid is shown alone below and circled within coenzyme A.

clipboard_e96b26729b62b24951ba554d07977878b.png
Figure 10.6.1: The structure of pantothenic acid1
clipboard_e17564c95923b6de99ad1a798b67b3d8e.png
Figure 10.6.2: The structure of coenzyme A (CoA) with pantothenic acid circled2

The functions of CoA are shown and described below3.

clipboard_edc0d1fea8b1ce4de0e453f84db81c224.png
Figure 10.6.3: Acetyl-CoA is a central point in metabolism, and contains CoA4
clipboard_e08764ec1c75048998f857ee495ea1134.png
Figure 10.6.4: CoA is used in fatty acid oxidation. The fatty acid is activated by adding CoA, forming acyl-CoA.
clipboard_e67df2f405282db79173117413326553f.png
Figure 10.6.5: Fatty acid synthesis uses CoA5

Acyl Carrier Protein

Acyl carrier protein, is also important in fatty acid synthesis3.

Most pantothenic acid in food is found as CoA, which is cleaved prior to absorption. It is then taken up into the enterocyte through the sodium-dependent multivitamin transporter (SMVT) as shown below. Approximately 50% of pantothenic acid is absorbed; it is excreted primarily in urine3.

clipboard_ef00c3b75d47177edeafb96df9bb0fab9.png
Figure 10.6.6: The absorption of pantothenic acid

Deficiency of pantothenic acid is very rare. Pantothenic acid supplementation did relieve the symptoms (burning feet and numbness of toes) of "burning feet syndrome" in prisoners in World War II6. It is believed that pantothenic acid deficiency was the cause of this syndrome. Other symptoms noted are vomiting, fatigue, weakness, restlessness, and irritability3. No toxicity has been reported.

Query 10.6.1

References

  1. en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pa..._structure.svg
  2. en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coenzym_A.svg
  3. Gropper SS, Smith JL, Groff JL. (2008) Advanced nutrition and human metabolism. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
  4. en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CellRespiration.svg
  5. en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A...%28edit%29.svg
  6. Shils ME, Shike M, Ross AC, Caballero B, Cousins RJ, editors. (2006) Modern nutrition in health and disease. Baltimore, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

This page titled 10.6: Pantothenic Acid is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Brian Lindshield via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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