TISSUE THIAMIN CONCENTRATIONS AND URINARY THIAMIN EXCRETION 1

Abstract

The concs. of thiamin in human tissues, detd. by the thiochrome and the yeast fermentation methods, were correlated with the nutritional status of the subjects and with the urinary thiamin excretion of other subjects of similar nutritional status. Comparable observations were made in rats on thiamin deficient diet. The concs. of thiamin in human tissue are 2-3 [gamma] per g. for heart muscle, 0.5 [gamma] per g. for skeletal muscle, and 1 [gamma] per g. for brain, liver and kidney. These concs. may be temporarily increased by thiamin therapy, and may be considerably reduced by inadequate diets. Under comparable circumstances deficient subjects tend to excrete less thiamin than normal subjects, but thiamin excretion can not be used to reveal small changes in tissue thiamin cones.