Electrically Activated Ergosterol (whittier Process) by Waldemar Dasler and Clifford

The chemistry of the activation products of irradiated ergosterol has been studied by numerous investigators. These investigations have been reviewed in considerable detail by Brockmann (1) and by Rosenberg (2). No studies have heretofore been reported on the chemistry of ergosterol activated by other means than ultraviolet light; however, the extensive use of preparations containing ergosterol activated electrically by the Whittier process (3) has suggested the importance of a chemical study for the purpose of determining its composition. The conditions under which activation takes place in this process are such that the composition of the resulting product might be expected to differ from that produced by irradiation with ultraviolet light. A preliminary report by Mrazek, Novak, and Reed (4) indicates that ertronl may be less toxic for rat,s than either vitamin Dz or vitamin Da. The survival time of the rats was used as the criterion of toxicity. McChesney and Kocher (6), on the other hand, showed that the degree of hypercalcemia produced in rats by large doses of ertron was statistically indistinguishable from that produced by crystalline vitamin Dz. On the basis of survival time, however;McChesney (7) confirmed the difference in toxicity for rats of vitamins Dz and D3 which was reported by Mrazek et al. In a recent report of a clinical comparison of ertron and irradiated ergosterol (S), differences in the toxicological and the pharmacological properties of the two products were described. A number of other clinical reports ((9), (10) pp. 180,310, (11-16)) have also expressed the opinion that activated ergo&r01 by the Whittier process may have different toxicological and pharmacological properties than irradiated ergosterol. Little is known of the chemistry of the product resulting from the Whittier activation. The discussion of the chemistry of the Whittier product by Reed, Struck, and Steck ((10) pp. 30,31) is largely hypothetical. More recently, Horwitz and Joseph (17) have said of ergosterol activated by the Whittier process, “On the basis of data to be published in detail later,