Uptake of pyrithiamine by tissue of rats

Abstract

A microfluorimetric method for the determination of pyrithiamine in animal tissues is described. The intraperitoneal injection of 1 mg of pyrithiamine in rats, reared on a thiamine-deficient diet, caused an initial increase of the pyrithiamine content in the liver, muscle, kidney and brain, followed by a steady decrease in all the tissues except the brain, where a final increase of up to 200% was found. The daily oral administration of 210 [mu]g of pyrithiamine together with 33 [mu]g of thiamine, for 20 days, induced a gradual increase of the pyrithiamine content in all the tissues examined. After a single intraperitoneal injection of 1 mg, pyrithiamine was found 24 hr. later in the liver almost all in a phosphorylated form.