The influence of carbohydrate on the origin of symptoms and the onset of death in thiamine-deficient pigeons

Abstract

Former experiments had shown that increased carbohydrate consumption leads to a quicker depletion of the thiamine pyrophosphate stores of pigeons on diets deprived of thiamine. Now thiamine pyrophosphate has been determined in liver, heart, breast muscle and cerebrum immediately after death by vitamin-B1 deficiency. It appeared that on a carbohydrate-rich diet the content of liver and heart was lower, and the content of breast muscle and cerebrum was higher than on a diet in which carbohydrate was replaced by an isocaloric amount of fat. These results suggest that the rapid depletion of the stores of thiamine pyrophosphate is the only cause of the earlier appearance of symptoms and of the earlier death by introduction of a higher percentage of carbohydrate in the thiamine-deficient diet. There is no reason to assume any toxic effect of carbohydrate or its metabolic intermediates upon the thiamine-deficient organism.