The effect of calcium pantothenate on the adrenal cortex of patients with rheumatoid polyarthritis treated with corticosteroids
Tiunina, E.A.
Klinicheskaia Meditsina 50(8): 101-105
1972
ISSN/ISBN: 0023-2149 PMID: 4660333 Document Number: 56725
The subjects were 17 patients with rheumatoid polyarthritis treated for from 1 to 8 years with corticosteroids, usually 10 to 20 mg prednisolone daily. The treatment was suspended abruptly for 7 patients treated for not more than 2 years and withdrawn gradually over 1 to 2 weeks from those treated for longer. In 15 patients the suspension of treatment led to general weakness, high temperature, pain in the muscles and increased pain and swelling in joints. After 3 or 4 days excretion of ketosteroids was estimated and then repeated after 4 or 5 days of treatment with calcium pantothenate 400 to 800 mg/day. Values taken as normal, from an earlier study, were for women and men, respectively, 17-hydroxycorticoids 3 plus or minus 0.2 and 4 plus or minus 0.3 mg/day and for 17-ketosteroids 13 plus or minus 0.9 and 14 plus or minus 0.7 mg/day. Seven patients who had been treated for between 3 and 8 years excreted from 0.15 to 2.1 mg 17-hydroxycorticoids and from 5.3 to 11.8 mg 17-ketosteroids daily in the period after treatment was suspended, while 10 who had been treated for a shorter time or discontinuously gave respective values of 1.9 to 4.1 and 9.0 to 20 mg. After pantothenate treatment none of the first 7 showed any change while all the other 10 showed increases. It was concluded that the 7 who had had most prolonged or uninterrupted treatment had a loss of adrenal function.