Sparing Action of Protein on Pantothenic Acid Requirement of Rat. III. Fibrin as the Protein Component.

Summary The sparing action of protein on the pantothenic acid requirement of the rat has been confirmed by using a protein considerably lower in pantothenic acid, washed beef blood fibrin, instead of casein as the protein component of the diet. Despite the accentuation of the pantothenic acid deficiency produced by substituting purified fibrin for casein at the 24% level, doubling the fibrin level resulted in significantly better growth and survival. The differences in growth and survival between the two protein levels in the fibrin-containing diets were more pronounced than those observed for the casein-containing diets. The protective effects of the high fibrin diet indicated also that phosphorus can be eliminated as a possible factor concerned in the sparing action.