Studies on experimental thiamine deficiency. 3. Glyoxylic acid, citric acid and tissue metabolism

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
During thiamine depletion of rats the daily urine excretion remained constant in the first 3 weeks and continued to drop to a low level near the terminal stage. The urinary excretion of citrate showed a slight increase during the first 12 days and then decreased for the rest of the period. This is related to the food intake and the anhydraemia produced by thiamine deficiency. The concentration of blood citrate remained at the normal level during the first 12 days and increased during the rest of the period of thiamine depletion. The increase in the concentration of blood citrate may be due to the accumulation of glyoxylate and the decrease in urinary excretion. Oxygen uptake on glucose was reduced in the tissues from the thia-mine-deficient rats as compared with that from the normal rats. Glyoxylate showed a greater inhibition of aerobic metabolism of brain brei than on the aerobic metabolism of diaphragm, kidney, and liver slices. Cocarboxylase augmented the oxygen uptake to a greater degree in tissues from thiamine-deficient rats and to a less degree in normal rats.