Calcium pantothenate and pantothenic acid levels in men
What it found
In 10 men, a low pantothenic acid diet lowered the vitamin in urine and blood, while a daily 10 mg calcium pantothenate supplement raised it.
The men on the low diet also tended to hold on to less nitrogen.
What they found
Studies in people
Urinary pantothenic acid
In men on the low diet, the average amount of pantothenic acid in urine fell from 3.05 mg a day to 0.79 mg a day. In men taking the 10 mg supplement, it rose from 3.95 mg to 5.84 mg a day.
Blood pantothenic acid
Blood levels of pantothenic acid generally went down in the unsupplemented men and stayed the same in the supplemented men. Blood levels changed more slowly than urine levels when intake changed.
Test dose retention
When both groups were given a 100 mg test dose for 7 days, the men who had been on the low diet kept 63% of the dose on the first day, compared with 48% in the supplemented men. By the 7th day, both groups kept about 40% of the dose.
Nitrogen balance
Nitrogen retention tended to be higher in the men who took the calcium pantothenate supplement than in those on the low diet.
Symptoms
No clinical symptoms of pantothenic acid deficiency appeared during the nine weeks of restricted intake. However, by the end of that period, the unsupplemented men appeared listless and complained of fatigue.
What the authors conclude
“The purpose of this study was to devise an experimental diet which would provide minimal amounts of pantothenic acid and to study response of human subjects to the diet by measuring urinary excretion and blood concentration of pantothenic acid.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say the body is capable of storing the vitamin, and that the length of time needed to produce a deficiency is related to the amount stored in tissues.
- They note that the wide differences in individual responses suggest a further study of protein-pantothenic acid relationships is desirable.
How it was done
The authors wanted to create a diet with very little pantothenic acid and see how the human body responds, because earlier attempts to study deficiency using vitamin blockers interfered with measurements. They also included nitrogen balance because previous work suggested pantothenic acid intake affects how the body handles nitrogen.
Ten healthy adult male prisoners, aged 27 to 33, ate a purified low pantothenic acid diet for 63 days. Some also took 10 mg of calcium pantothenate daily by mouth. The researchers measured pantothenic acid in urine and whole blood, and checked nitrogen in urine and feces.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a small study in 10 men, so the results may not apply to women, children, or people with different diets or health conditions.
- The study lasted 63 days on the low diet, so it cannot show what would happen over longer periods.
The paper
- Title
- Metabolic response to a pantothenic acid deficient diet in humans
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Fry PC, Fox HM, Tao HG (1976). Metabolic response to a pantothenic acid deficient diet in humans. Journal of nutritional science and vitaminology. doi:10.3177/jnsv.22.339Free full textPubMed 1011047DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error