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Thiamin and Thiamin Phosphate Ester Deficiency Assessed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography in Four Clinical Cases of Wernicke Encephalopathy
Author(s) -
Tallaksen C. M. E.,
Bell H.,
Bøhmer T.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1993.tb00825.x
Subject(s) - thiamine , thiamine deficiency , chemistry , wernicke encephalopathy , anorexia , encephalopathy , vomiting , medicine , cerebrospinal fluid , high performance liquid chromatography , endocrinology , biochemistry , chromatography
The concentrations of thiamin and thiamin phosphate esters were determined by high performance liquid chromatography in four patients with clinical Wernicke encephalopathy. Three were alcohol abusers, and one had prolonged vomiting and anorexia. Thiamin and thiamin monophosphate were assessed in plasma and whole blood (four patients) and in cerebrospinal fluid (two patients) before and during thiamin treatment. Thiamin diphosphate was also assessed in whole blood in the four patients. Before treatment, thiamin mono‐phosphate was significantly decreased in all patients, and thiamin diphosphate in three. A poor increase in thiamin mono‐ and diphosphate was paralleled by a slow clinical improvement in one patient, while an increase in all thiamin compounds was observed in two patients with a rapid recovery. Thiamin monophosphate was a more sensitive marker of deficiency than thiamin diphosphate and un‐phosphorylated thiamin.