EFFECTS OF CALCIUM AND MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY ON THIAMINE DISTRIBUTION IN RAT BRAIN AND LIVER

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Abstract
—: Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups and the following different synthetic diets were given for 1 month: group 1, calcium‐ and magnesium‐deficient; group 2, calcium‐deficient, magnesium‐sufficient; group 3, calcium‐sufficient, magnesium‐deficient; group 4, calcium‐sufficient, magnesium‐sufficient (normal diet). After 1 month on these dietary regimens, the rats were killed. In calcium‐deficiency (groups 1 and 2), thiamine concentration in synaptosomal and myelin‐membrane fractions in the brain had decreased and the ratio of free thiamine to total thiamine and non‐protein bound thiamine amount had increased in the brain. In magnesium‐deficiency (groups 1 and 3), thiamine concentration in the liver and activities of thiamine‐dependent enzymes in liver had decreased. These results indicate that calcium plays a role in binding thiamine in nerve membrane structures, which have a specific role in the conduction process of nervous tissues. In contrast, magnesium has little effect on thiamine in nervous tissues but may play an important role in thiamine‐dependent enzyme systems in the liver.
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