Translations:Pantethine/5/en

Physiological effects

Although pantethine can serve as a precursor for generation of vitamin B₅ and consumption of therapeutic amounts of pantethine results in higher circulating concentrations of vitamin B₅, this is not thought to be the mechanism of action. Vitamin B₅ requirements are on the order of 5 mg/day. High doses of vitamin B₅ do not result in the lipid changes seen with pantethine. Two mechanisms of action are proposed for pantethine. In the first, pantethine serves as the precursor for synthesis of coenzyme A. CoA is involved in the transfer of acetyl groups, in some instances to attach to proteins closely associated with activating and deactivating genes. By this theory, either the genes responsible for cholesterol and triglyceride synthesis are suppressed or the genes governing the catabolism of compounds are turned on. In the second theory, pantethine is converted to two pantetheine molecules which are in turn metabolized to form two pantothenic acid and two cysteamine molecules. Cysteamine is theorized to bind to and thus inactivate sulfur-containing amino acids in liver enzymes involved in the production of cholesterol and triglycerides. What is known is that high doses of the related vitamin - pantothenic acid - has no effect on lipids.