Coenzyme A metabolism in pantothenic acid-deficient rats

The pantothenic acid (PA) and coenzyme A (CoA) content of various organs of rats maintained on a PA-deficient diet were determined. The PA content of heart, kidney, gastrocnemius and testes of rats fed the PA-deficient diet was reduced by greater than 90%, and liver PA was reduced by 70%. However, these low PA levels were sufficient to maintain tissue CoA at control levels. Although CoA levels were maintained, the PA-deficient rats did not grow at normal rates suggesting that low PA may effect growth rate by mechanisms other than by depressed CoA. PA-deficient rats were subjected to fasting and alloxan-diabetes to determine if increased CoA synthesis occurred as in normal animals. Both fasting and diabetes resulted in elevations in myocardial and liver CoA, which were comparable in rats fed a PA-deficient diet or a regular diet. The source of the PA used for the increase in tissue CoA in PA-deficient rats has yet to be determined.