Pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5)

General Information

Pantothenic acid – vitamin B5 is a vitamin involved in the breakdown of carbohydrates and fats. It is involved in the generation of energy. Its role in the formation of blood cells, as well as in the synthesis of sex and steroid hormones, in the proper functioning of the digestive tract is also important. Vitamin B5 is a structural unit of coenzyme A.
The need for pantothenic acid or vitamin B5 is different at different ages. Pantothenic acid is naturally found in many foods: meat, eggs, milk, seafood, mushrooms, avocados, broccoli, potatoes, nuts, sunflower seeds, grains, and more.
Pantothenic acid deficiency is usually rare and people get enough of it from food, however, pantothenic acid deficiency can still develop. People with a rare genetic disease – pantothenic kinase-associated neurodegeneration – cannot absorb the pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) they get, causing them to experience deficiency symptoms. Vitamin B5 deficiency is characterized by: feeling of numbness or burning in the limbs, headache, severe general weakness and fatigue, anxiety-restlessness, insomnia, abdominal pain, nausea-vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite.

Pantothenic acid deficiency is determined by determining its content in the blood.