VITAMIN B1 NUTRITION IN SURGICAL PATIENTS AS DETERMINED BY THE BLOOD LEVEL OF PYRUVIC ACID

Abstract

A considerable diversity of opinion exists regarding the relationship between vitamin B₁ and the function of the thyroid gland. It was not until Cowgill¹ demonstrated that the vitamin B₁ requirement of man is increased by elevation of the metabolic rate that the role played by this vitamin in thyrotoxicosis became the subject of much study. The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the nutritional status with respect to vitamin B₁ of persons suffering from toxic and nontoxic thyroid disease. The consistent rise in the pyruvic acid of the blood in vitamin B₁ deficiency provides a quantitative method of estimating the extent of this deficiency. METHODS AND MATERIALS Immediately on admission of the patient to the hospital the pyruvic acid content of the blood was determined by the method of Lu² with a Klett-Summerson photoelectric colorimeter. Hepatic function was estimated by the intravenous