Pantothenic Acid in Health and Disease

This chapter discusses the pantothenic acid in health and disease. Pantothenic acid is an essential vitamin required for the biosynthesis of coenzyme A (CoA) in mammalian cells. CoA, an acyl-group carrier, is a cofactor for a multitude of enzymatic reactions including the oxidation of fatty acids, carbohydrates, pyruvate, lactate, ketone bodies, and amino acids, as well as many synthetic reactions. Each tissue of the body appears to be capable of transporting pantothenic acid into the cell and synthesizing CoA from pantothenic acid, although the intracellular localization of these reactions remains uncertain. Although it has long been known that pantothenic acid is a precursor for CoA synthesis, the control of this pathway remains unclear. Besides being a component of CoA, pantothenic acid is also a structural component of acyl-carrier protein (ACP), an essential component of the fatty-acid synthetase complex, and is therefore required for fatty-acid synthesis. Thus, the importance of pantothenic acid in mammalian cells is dictated by the role of its metabolic products in cellular metabolism.