Urinary Excretion of Thiamine as a Characteristic of the Individual.

Abstract

Two groups of normal young men were maintained on carefully controlled intakes of 1 and 2 mg. of thiamine/day for several mos. Excretion of thiamine and pyramin was detd. on both urine and feces at various intervals. The thiamine excretion on a constant diet showed a 2-3 fold variation for the men within each group, and an overlapping of the 2 groups. The pyramin excretion was much more constant and showed no tendency to overlap. The excretion of thiamine is a characteristic of the individual as shown by highly significant intra-class correlations obtained over an 8-mo. period and rank correlations taken at various intervals. The same was true when the thiamine intake of the 2 groups was reversed. The corresponding correlations for the pyramin excretion were non-significant. An explanation of the thiamine excretion as a characteristic of the individual cannot be found in the fecal excretion of thiamine, the physical activity of the subjects, in the B.M.R., or in their body wts.