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1
*
Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 and
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011
1To whom correspondence should be addressed at 1301 Crestridge Court, Nashville, TN 37221. E-mail: pbswan{at}bellsouth.net
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Early life and education |
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TOPINTRODUCTIONEarly life and educationGraduate studies and early...Doctoral studies at YaleStudies of egg white...Thiamin availability from yeastRetirement yearsREFERENCES |
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).
Helen’s aunt was principal of the Second Ward School in Arkansas City
that Helen attended. Later her aunt married the head of chemistry at
Alabama Polytechnic Institute (API). Helen lived with the couple while
she attended API, one of 14 coeds in a military school. She did not
complete her studies at API, complaining of the "Southern
atmosphere." She returned to Kansas to teach in a country school,
making $27.50 a month, but because she was diminutive in stature, she
experienced difficulties in disciplining the "big boys" in the
school (Parsons 1972
).
She left teaching and went back to her father’s home, where she spent
a year gardening, a lifelong hobby. Her "green thumb" enabled her
to sell enough tomatoes to take her sister and herself to the summer
session at a new teacher’s college in Pittsburg, Kansas. The Parsons
family prided itself in its "scholarly" bent, but Helen felt that
the instructors at the teacher’s college were "not scholarly," so
she did not pursue additional work there (Parsons 1972
).
Instead, Helen enrolled at Kansas State Agricultural College. Earlier
in her studies, she thought she might become a Latin teacher, but here
the science courses captivated her, and she pursued a general science
curriculum, graduating in 1911. For a short time she again taught, this
time in a school in Oklahoma (Parsons 1972
).
Once again Helen’s aunt encouraged her "scholarly" interests and invited her and her sister to spend a summer in Madison, Wisconsin, where her uncle was pursuing doctoral studies at the university. It was there that she met Abby Marlatt, the dynamic head of home economics at the university, who became an important shaper of Parsons’ career. Marlatt advised the Parsons girls to take the home management course. When it was Helen’s turn to be hostess at the home management house, Marlatt came to dinner. Helen created a place card for the occasion using a small rhyme:
"Chemical life is a life for me,
A chemical cook I mean to be.
For life on this earth be it fast or slow,
Is a matter of air and H2O."
She believed this rhyme led to the offer of an assistantship from
Marlatt for graduate study (Parsons 1972
).
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Graduate studies and early faculty career |
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TOPINTRODUCTIONEarly life and educationGraduate studies and early...Doctoral studies at YaleStudies of egg white...Thiamin availability from yeastRetirement yearsREFERENCES |
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). With Marlatt’s encouragement, Helen
came to see herself as a "bridge between science and home
economics." It was in McCollum’s laboratory that she observed the
original work on vitamin A and the naming of "fat-soluble A and
water-soluble B" by the McCollum group. Parsons’ master’s
degree came in 1916 from her work with McCollum on the dietary
properties of the potato (McCollum et al. 1918
).
In 1917 McCollum left the University of Wisconsin and went to Johns
Hopkins University to head the biochemistry department in the newly
formed School of Hygiene and Public Health. Although Marlatt increased
her academic year salary from $600 in 1913 to $1300 in 1916, Parsons
was among the group who moved with McCollum. At Johns Hopkins, Parsons
worked on several topics and published a study on vitamin C, in which
she took great pride even to the end of her career (Parsons 1920
).
It was known that rats, unlike humans or guinea pigs, did not
require an anti-scorbutic substance in their diets. What caused
this inconsistency among animals? Parsons (1972)
later said she
"blinked for a moment when the thought came to me, ‘Perhaps the rat
really does use water-soluble C but gets it in some other way than
in its food. One could test rats’ tissues and find out!’ " Vitamin
C itself had not yet been isolated and chemically identified, so an
assay for its biological activity was required. Accordingly, she fed
the livers of rats that had no anti-scorbutic substance in their
diets to scorbutic guinea pigs and cured their scurvy, thus providing
evidence that rats synthesized an anti-scorbutic (Parsons 1920
). Kansas prairie dogs proved to be like rats in being able
to synthesize an anti-scorbutic substance and not like guinea pigs,
whose appearance they more closely resembled (McCollum and Parsons 1920
).
Parsons did not find the Johns Hopkins experience to be very
satisfactory. McCollum had formed a working team with Nina Simmonds,
both in the animal laboratory work and in writing the well-known
"Newer Knowledge of Nutrition." Consequently, Parsons felt she
"wasn’t getting anywhere." Marlatt called her back to a faculty
position at Wisconsin, explaining that she had only loaned Parsons to
McCollum (Parsons 1972
).
Parsons returned to Wisconsin in 1920, taking a faculty position in which she taught and conducted research on additional aspects of vitamin C requirements in rats and guinea pigs. During the summers, she studied at the University of Chicago and at Wisconsin to prepare her science background for doctoral studies. Initially she thought she would enroll in a doctoral program at the University of Chicago, but she found that the faculty was "not scholarly." Therefore, she interviewed with L. B. Mendel at Yale University, who accepted her for graduate studies.
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Doctoral studies at Yale |
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TOPINTRODUCTIONEarly life and educationGraduate studies and early...Doctoral studies at YaleStudies of egg white...Thiamin availability from yeastRetirement yearsREFERENCES |
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described Mendel as
"a very sour person" who would stop by her desk and "say crabby
things." She described Marlatt, in contrast, as "a
warm-hearted, crabby person." To substantiate her perhaps unusual
view of Mendel, she noted that Harry Steenbock, who had "spent one
year with Mendel and wiped the dust of Yale from his feet," was never
forgiven. Steenbock advised Parsons, however, that she should work with
Mendel and get along with him. After going to Yale, she was awarded the Mary Pemberton Nourse Fellowship from the American Association of University Women. She noted that Mendel’s attitude toward her changed because he was afraid she would take her fellowship to Columbia. Nonetheless, when Mendel, rather than a senior member of the laboratory, began supervising her work toward the end of her studies, she recognized that she "reaped his beautiful knowledge of how you write up things." Parsons received her doctorate from Yale in 1928 at the age of 42.
Parsons’ work with the B vitamins originated in studies conducted at
Yale (Parsons et al. 1930
). When feeding diets high in
casein, she observed changes in the kidneys of rats, but Mendel,
concerned over the high phosphorus content of casein, asked her to
repeat this observation using other proteins if she were going to
attribute these changes to the high dietary protein. When she repeated
them using egg white, the kidney changes recurred, but unlike the case
with other proteins, the rats developed a severe dermatitis,
neurological dysfunction and failure to thrive.
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Studies of egg white injury |
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TOPINTRODUCTIONEarly life and educationGraduate studies and early...Doctoral studies at YaleStudies of egg white...Thiamin availability from yeastRetirement yearsREFERENCES |
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actually developed the project for
Parsons, using her dissertation outline, and got it approved through
university authorities.
When Parsons returned to Wisconsin as an associate professor, she had
an annual salary of $3600, as well as research funding and new
equipment from the University. She followed up the egg white
observations with a series of studies with rats in which she determined
that the dermatitis also resulted from feeding "native" egg white
and was not the result of the drying process used to produce the
commercial preparations (Parsons 1931
). She and her
student further observed that well-heated (nontoxic) egg white was
not protective when fed in a diet also containing unheated egg white.
They concluded (Parsons and Kelly 1933a
) that the
dermatitis "appears to involve an interrelation between a positive
toxicity and a relative absence of a protective factor, rather than a
simple deficiency." Next they went on to show that the toxic factor
in the egg white was destroyed during peptic digestion or by mild
treatment with hydrochloric acid alone, but it persisted when the
protein was denatured by strong alcohol. They concluded that the toxic
factor was in the protein fraction but that its destruction was not a
matter of simple denaturation (Parsons and Kelly 1933b
).
Parsons’ next approach was to identify sources of the factor that
might prevent the dermatitis. She and another student found that cooked
pork kidney was the richest source of a protective factor, followed by
cooked beef liver, pork liver and beef kidney. Dried yeast, wheat
embryo and dried milk, the usual sources of vitamins in animal diets,
were only weakly protective. Spleen, heart, adrenal gland, ovary and
blood were not protective (Parsons and Lease 1934
). They
further demonstrated that the dermatitis did not arise from a
riboflavin deficiency (Lease and Parsons 1934a
) or from
an anti-tryptic activity in the egg white (Parsons 1936
). They then set about to obtain a partially purified
extract containing the protective factor (Lease and Parsons 1934b
), demonstrated its effectiveness when administered orally
or parenterally and showed that the amount required was proportional to
the amount of egg white fed. They may have gone astray in their
thinking, however, when they (Parsons and Lease 1937)
concluded the following from these studies that the observations:
"... would seem to eliminate the hypothesis that the nutritional disorder is due to a deficiency of the potent factor created by the direct destructive effect on it of the egg white in the ration mixture or in the digestive tract, or by a change brought about in the membranes of the digestive tract whereby the absorption of the potent factor is hindered or prevented. The implication of these data is that the interrelationship is metabolic in nature."
In a paper presented at the March federation meetings,
Parsons (1940)
presented evidence that feeding egg white
resulted in an increased amount of the protective factor in the feces
of rats. Moreover, it was present in a bound form. She concluded:
"... it is suggested... that raw egg white derives its essential capacity to produce a pathological condition, not from its own possible lack of the protective factor... but from its characteristic in the digestive tract of combining with and holding in an unabsorbable form, the protective factor... "
This was to be the strongest clue as to the solution to "egg white injury." Unfortunately, however, Parsons was not to be the one to provide that final solution.
In 1940, Paul Gyorgy reported the identification of biotin, which he also called vitamin H, as the factor protective against egg white injury, and in 1942, Eakin, Snell and Williams isolated and identified avidin as the factor in egg white that bound biotin, rendering it unavailable for utilization.
Although Parsons did not have the pleasure of finally solving the problem, on her retirement Gyorgy wrote to her:
"It was you, my dear Doctor Parsons, who gave me the best
stimulus to unravel the difficult problem of egg-white toxicity and
biotin deficiency. Your excellent and classical experiments on the
identification of bound biotin in the feces of rats fed raw
egg-white opened the way to solve the puzzle of egg-white
toxicity. I am still grateful to you for giving us the light to see the
things in proper perspective" (Gyorgy 1956
).
On the same occasion, Vincent du Vigneaud wrote:
"Perhaps no one knows better than I do your contributions to the
egg white injury factor, which has eventually taken its place among the
B Vitamins. This work was extremely important in the final
denouement" (du Vigneaud 1956
).
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Thiamin availability from yeast |
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TOPINTRODUCTIONEarly life and educationGraduate studies and early...Doctoral studies at YaleStudies of egg white...Thiamin availability from yeastRetirement yearsREFERENCES |
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). This work was
stimulated by a colleague who called to Parsons’ attention previous
observations, from a government laboratory, that dried yeast had higher
values of thiamin as determined by rat bioassay than did live yeast
(Walker and Nelson 1933
). Preliminary observations were
made in Parsons’ laboratory by a senior student, who conducting
research for her required senior thesis showed decreased excretion of
thiamin after feeding yeast, and by a graduate student who confirmed
that after feeding, live yeast cells showed up in the feces. Yet
certain companies were advertising "live yeast" as an especially
good source of vitamins, including thiamin. Parsons demonstrated
decreased thiamin excretion in urine and increased fecal elimination in
10 human subjects and published her work immediately, thinking
especially of dietitians, some of whom were feeding live yeast to
children and other patients.
In 1945 Parsons’ group published the two papers in this series,
showing not only that thiamin from live yeast was not available but
also that feeding live yeast interfered with the utilization of thiamin
from other dietary sources in humans and in rats (Parsons et al. 1945a
and 1945b
). When the yeast cells were dried under gentle
conditions, they retained viability, could be used to leaven bread and
interfered with thiamin availability. Sufficient heating, however,
killed the cells and rendered the thiamin completely available. When
yeast cells were supplemented with high amounts of thiamin, some
utilization occurred. In the next year, by feeding human subjects live
yeast, they showed that the subjects who were eating a diet containing
ample thiamin could actually be depleted of thiamin (Ness et al. 1946
). On the basis of Parsons’ work, an editorial was
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that
warned against the use of live yeast as a source of vitamins
(Anonymous 1946
).
Similarly, Parsons and her students reported that live yeasts also
interfered with riboflavin utilization, although the interference was
less striking and somewhat variable (Parsons and Collard
1942
, Price et al. 1947
). They also reported
that the live yeast would interfere with the utilization of thiamin
hydrochloride given in solution, as well as with riboflavin supplements
(Garber et al. 1949
).
During her work with yeast, Parsons had extensive correspondence with companies involved in selling yeast, such as Red Star, and with Food and Drug Administration authorities who were involved in regulation of the sale of supplements. Much of this correspondence centered around the question of differences among different sources of yeast. The Schlitz Brewing Company and the Pabst Brewing Company both provided samples of brewer’s yeast, but when these reached her laboratory, the cells were not always viable. Similarly, Geoffrey Bourne of London University, who was feeding live yeast to his pediatric patients, sent samples for Parsons to determine the availability of the vitamins. Again, when the samples reached her laboratory, the yeast cells were of extremely low viability, although at least one type had been marketed to Bourne as being especially vigorous. Apparently Parsons was not able to satisfactorily answer the question as to thiamin availability from the yeast that Bourne was giving his patients.
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Retirement years |
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TOPINTRODUCTIONEarly life and educationGraduate studies and early...Doctoral studies at YaleStudies of egg white...Thiamin availability from yeastRetirement yearsREFERENCES |
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On the occasion of her retirement, E. V. McCollum
(1956)
wrote:
"Throughout the forty years I have known you, you have manifested belief in something worthwhile, worthy desires and commendable ambition. You had the urge to understand. You had vision, energy, courage and a sense of purpose.
In your investigational work you experienced the joy of anticipation and of achievement. In your teaching, you touched the springs of motivation in a gratifying number of your best endowed students. These are among the most exalted experiences which life offers us. You have, to an unusual degree, distinguished the things which matter little from those which matter much. It is these qualities, motivations and attitudes, which have made for you such fine personal relationships as you have realized."
Parsons’ retirement years were spent in gardening, for which she received much honor and recognition from city and state garden clubs, and in travel with her longtime housemate and faculty colleague, May Cowles. Together they indulged interests in photography, birds, flowers and visiting and corresponding with former students. After a period of ill health, Helen Parsons died at her home in Madison, Wisconsin, on December 30, 1977, at the age of 91.
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REFERENCES |
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TOPINTRODUCTIONEarly life and educationGraduate studies and early...Doctoral studies at YaleStudies of egg white...Thiamin availability from yeastRetirement yearsREFERENCES |
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1. Anonymous Thiamine utilization and live yeast. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 1946;132:582-583
2. du Vigneaud, V. (1956) Letter to Parsons dated April 9, University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives, Series 10/1/2, School of Home Economics Administration.
3.
Eakin R. E., Snell E. E., Williams R. J. The concentration and assay of avidin, the injury-producing protein in raw egg white. J. Biol. Chem. 1941;140:535-543
4. Garber M., Marquette M. M., Parsons H. T. The availability of vitamins from yeasts 1949 V. Differences in the influence of live yeast on the absorption of pure thiamine hydrochloride pure riboflavin and nitrogen by human subjects and the effect of distribution of the vitamin doses. J. Nutr. 38 225–236.
5. Gyorgy, P. (1956) Letter to Parsons dated May 5, University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives, Series 10/1/2, School of Home Economics Administration.
6.
Gyorgy P., Melville D. B., Burk D., du Vigneaud V. The possible identity of vitamin H with biotin and coenzyme R. Science 1940;91:243-245
7. Lease J. G., Parsons H. T. CCLXXVIII. The relationship of dermatitis in chicks to lack of vitamin B2 and to dietary egg white. Biochem. J. 1934a;28:2109-2115[Medline]
8.
Lease J. G., Parsons H. T. The extraction of the factor curative of dermatitis in rats due to egg white. J. Biol. Chem. 1934b;105:1
9. Marlatt, A. (1914) Letter to Parsons dated July 22, University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives. Series 10/1/2, School of Home Economics Administration.
10. Marlatt, A. (1928) Letter to Parsons dated April 26, University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives, Series 10/1/2, School of Home Economics Administration.
11. McCollum, E. V. (1956) Letter to Parsons, University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives. Series 10/1/2, School of Home Economics Administration.
12.
McCollum E. V., Parsons H. T. The antiscorbutic requirement of the prairie dog. J. Biol. Chem. 1920;44:603-607
13.
McCollum E. V., Simmonds N., Parsons H. T. The dietary properties of the potato. J. Biol. Chem. 1918;36:197-210
14.
Ness H. T., Price E. L., Parsons H. T. Thiamine depletion of human subjects on a diet rich in thiamine. Science 1946;103:198-199
15.
Parsons H. T. The antiscorbutic content of certain body tissues of the rat: The persistence of the antiscorbutic substance in the liver of the rat after long intervals on a scorbutic diet. J. Biol. Chem. 1920;44:587-602
16.
Parsons H. T. The physiological effects of diets rich in egg white. J. Biol. Chem. 1931;90:351-366
17.
Parsons H. T. A comparison of the antitryptic activity of egg white with its capacity to produce a characteristic nutritional disorder. J. Biol. Chem. 1936;116:685-690
18. Parsons H. T. In the days when vitamins were new. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 1957;33:371-373[Medline]
19. Parsons, H. T. (1972) Oral history project, University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives.
20. Parsons H. T., Collord J. J. Human utilization of thiamin and riboflavin in yeast. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 1942;18:805-810
21. Parsons H. T., Foeste A., Gilberg H. The availability of vitamins from yeasts. II. The accessibility to rats for growth of the thiamine in various types of bakers’ yeast. J. Nutr. 1945a;29:383-389
22. Parsons H. T., Gardner J., Walliker C. T. Possible significance of fecal concentrations of the factor protective against egg white injury. J. Nutr. 1940;19(suppl):19
23.
Parsons H. T., Kelly E. The effect of heating egg white on certain characteristic pellagra-like manifestations produced in rats by its dietary use. Am. J. Physiol. 1933a;104:150-164
24.
Parsons H. T., Kelly E. The character of the dermatitis-producing factor in dietary egg white as shown by certain chemical treatments. J. Biol. Chem. 1933b;100:645-652
25. Parsons H. T., Lease J. G. Variations in the potency of certain foodstuffs in the cure of dermatitis induced in rats by dietary egg white. J. Nutr. 1934;8:57-67
26. Parsons H. T., Lease J. G., Kelly E. LIX. The interrelationship between dietary egg white and the requirement for a protective factor in the cure of the nutritive disorder due to egg white. Biochem. J. 1937;31:424-432[Medline]
27. Parsons H. T., Smith A. H., Moise T. S., Mendel L. B. Diet and tissue growth. VII. Response to high protein diets and unilateral nephrectomy during reproduction and lactation in the rat with particular reference to kidney changes in both mother and offspring. Arch. Pathol. 1930;10:1-22
28. Parsons H. T., Williamson A., Johnson M. L. The availability of vitamins from yeasts. I. The absorption of thiamine by human subjects from various types of bakers’ yeast. J. Nutr. 1945b;29:373-381
29. Price E. L., Marquette M. M., Parsons H. T. The availability of vitamins from yeasts. III. The availability to human subjects of riboflavin from fresh and dried bakers’ yeast varying in viability. J. Nutr. 1947;34:311-320
30. Walker R., Nelson E. M. Fresh and dried yeast as sources of vitamin B1. Am. J. Physiol. 1933;103:25-29
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