Pantethine (bis-pantethine or co-enzyme pantethine) is a dimeric form of

pantetheine Pantetheine is the cysteamine amide structural analog, analog of pantothenic acid (vitamin B5). The dimer of this compound, pantethine is more commonly known, and is considered to be the most potent form of vitamin B5. Pantetheine is an intermedi ...

, which is produced from

pantothenic acid Pantothenic acid, also called vitamin B5 is a water-soluble B vitamin and therefore an essential nutrient. All animals require pantothenic acid in order to synthesize coenzyme A (CoA) – essential for fatty acid metabolism – as well as to, i ...

(vitamin B₅) by the addition of

cysteamine Cysteamine is a chemical compound that can be biosynthesized in mammals, including humans, by the degradation of coenzyme A. The intermediate pantetheine is broken down into cysteamine and pantothenic acid. It is the biosynthetic precursor to ...

. Pantethine was discovered by Gene Brown, a PhD student at the time. Pantethine is two molecules of pantetheine linked by a

disulfide In biochemistry, a disulfide (or disulphide in British English) refers to a functional group with the structure . The linkage is also called an SS-bond or sometimes a disulfide bridge and is usually derived by the coupling of two thiol groups. In ...

bridge. Pantetheine is an intermediate in the production of

coenzyme A Coenzyme A (CoA, SHCoA, CoASH) is a coenzyme, notable for its role in the synthesis and oxidation of fatty acids, and the oxidation of pyruvate in the citric acid cycle. All genomes sequenced to date encode enzymes that use coenzyme A as a subs ...

by the body. Most vitamin B₅ supplements are in the form of calcium pantothenate, a salt of pantothenic acid, with doses in the range of 5 to 10 mg/day. In contrast, pantethine is sold as a dietary supplement for lowering blood cholesterol and triglycerides at doses of 500 to 1200 mg/day.

Dietary supplement

Pantethine is available in the United States as a dietary supplement because of evidence for lowering elevated LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides and raising HDL-cholesterol. In multiple clinical trials of patients with elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, total and LDL cholesterol were decreased by an average of 12%, triglycerides decreased by 19%, and HDL cholesterol was increased by 9% in clinical trials with daily intakes ranging from 600 to 1200 mg/day.

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

. CoA is involved in the transfer of

acetyl In organic chemistry, acetyl is a functional group with the chemical formula and the structure . It is sometimes represented by the symbol Ac (not to be confused with the element actinium). In IUPAC nomenclature, acetyl is called ethanoyl, ...

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.

References

{{vitamin Carboxamides Organic disulfides Vitamins Alcohols ja:パンテチン