CORRELATION BETWEEN THE CONCENTRATION OF BISULPHITE BINDING SUBSTANCES IN THE BLOOD AND THE URINARY THIAMIN EXCRETION 1

Abstract

The conc. of bisulphite binding substances (B.B.S.) was detd. by iodometric titration in the blood of human subjects whose, urinary thiamin; excretions were concomitantly detd. by the ehemical method using the diazotized p-aminoacetophenone reagent. The conc. of blood B.B.S. was elevated in 7 of 26 patients with urinary thiamin values in the normal range; it was normal in 7 of 16 patients with urinary thiamin values indicative of thiamin sub-nutrition. When a standardized normal subject maintained a grossly inadequate thiamin intake for 22 days, there was no elevation of blood B.B.S. value. Yet the urinary thiamin excretion fell to very low levels which persisted after thiamin supplementation, and the subject developed early manifes-tations of a clinical thiamin deficiency. An elevation of the blood B.B.S. lacks specificity and sensitivity as a means of detecting latent or mild chronic forms of thiamin deficiency.