Important Characteristics of Vitamin B1 (Thiamin)

There are many B vitamins, but the main ones are B1, or thiamine; B2, or riboflavin; B3, or PP (nicotinic acid in various forms); B6, or pyridoxine; B5, or pantothenic acid; B9, or folic acid; B12, or cyanocobalamin; H1, or biotin. Other B vitamins are also known - choline, inositol, para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), etc.

Thiamine (vitamin B1) is essential for the normal functioning of the nervous system. With its deficiency, certain disorders occur, in particular polyneuritis. If you have constipation, this is primarily a symptom of a lack of vitamin B1.

Today we will talk about what thiamine is needed for and which foods contain the most vitamin B1.

Story

Christian Eikman suggested the existence of a paralytic poison in the endosperm of rice, and the presence of substances beneficial to the body in rice bran that cure beriberi disease. For the research that led to the discovery of vitamins, Aickman received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1929. In 1911, Casimir Funk obtained a biologically active substance from rice bran, which he called a vitamin because the molecule contained nitrogen.

It was first isolated in its pure form by B. Jansen in 1926.

For the first time in the USSR, synthetic (artificial) vitamin B1 was obtained in a test tube by laboratory assistant Maria Ivanovna Koroleva, in Moscow in 1946 at the Moscow Experimental Vitamin Plant. For receiving vitamin B1, laboratory assistant M. I. Koroleva was promoted to “Chemist” with a thank you note added to her personal file. It was the second, after vitamin C, synthetic vitamin in the USSR, the production of which was mastered by the vitamin industry.

Category “B1” - where will they be sent to serve?

Category “B-1” allows service in marine units, airborne troops, as well as in air assault battalions, which are intended for landing near or deep behind enemy lines. In addition, conscripts with health category “B1” can be recommended to the border troops responsible for the inviolability of the borders of the Russian Federation. In the event that category “B1” was assigned to a conscript who is actively involved in sports and has increased resistance to the effects of psychological stress, he can be drafted into special military intelligence units.

Metabolic role and metabolism

Thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP)
In nature, thiamine is synthesized by plants and many microorganisms. Animals and humans cannot synthesize thiamine and receive it through food. All animals except ruminants need thiamine, since bacteria in their intestines synthesize a sufficient amount of the vitamin.

Absorbed from the intestine, thiamine is phosphorylated and converted into thiamine pyrophosphate.

Thiamine pyrophosphate

(
TPF
) - the active form of thiamine - is a coenzyme of pyruvate decarboxylase and α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complexes, as well as transketolase. The first two enzymes are involved in carbohydrate metabolism; transketolase functions in the pentose phosphate pathway, participating in the transfer of glycoaldehyde radicals between keto and aldosaccharides. TPP is synthesized by the enzyme thiamine pyrophosphokinase, mainly in the liver and brain tissue. The reaction requires the presence of free thiamine, Mg2+ ions and ATP. TPP also acts as a coenzyme for γ-hydroxyglutaric acid dehydrogenase and pyruvate decarboxylase in yeast cells.

Other thiamine derivatives are:

• Thiamine triphosphate
  , found in bacteria, fungi, plants and animals[1], plays the role of a signaling molecule in
  E. coli
  in response to amino acid starvation[2].
• Adenosine thiamine diphosphate
  - accumulates in
  E. coli
  as a result of carbon starvation[3].
• Adenosine thiamine triphosphate
  - present in small quantities in the liver of vertebrates, its function is unknown[4].

What is vitamin B1 for?

With a severe lack of vitamin B1, your legs begin to hurt, and this is a harbinger of the terrible disease beriberi. The normal content of vitamin B1 in the body maintains good health, optimism, relieves fatigue, irritability, nervousness, fears, maintains a good healthy appetite, improves digestion and regulates the functioning of the stomach.

Vitamin B1 does not accumulate in the body. Unfortunately, we do not have stocks from which we could obtain additional quantities if necessary. This vitamin must be supplied to the body daily through food, which is not so easy. The vitamin is fragile: it easily decomposes at prolonged high temperatures, as well as in the presence of alkalis.

For example, a housewife often adds salt to peas or beans to make them boil faster, but this completely destroys thiamine. Such dishes should be salted only after they are cooked. It is known that thiamine is completely decomposed by coffee. This means that coffee lovers remove this important ingredient from their bodies, thereby developing diseases of the digestive system, the nervous system, and aging faster than they were destined to do. Meanwhile, at certain periods of life and under certain circumstances, the body’s need for vitamin B1 can be enormous.

Vegetable diet for weight loss

Flaw

Systemic deficiency of thiamine is the cause of the development of a number of severe disorders, the leading place in which is occupied by damage to the nervous system. The complex consequences of thiamine deficiency are known as beriberi disease and Korsakoff-Wernicke syndrome.

As a rule, the development of thiamine deficiency is associated with nutritional disorders. This may be a consequence of insufficient intake of thiamine from food or occur as a result of excessive consumption of foods containing significant amounts of antithiamine factors. Thus, fresh fish and seafood contain significant amounts of thiaminase, which destroys the vitamin; tea and coffee inhibit the absorption of thiamine.

With beriberi, weakness, weight loss, muscle atrophy, neuritis, mental impairment, disorders of the digestive and cardiovascular system, and the development of paresis and paralysis are observed.

One of the forms of beriberi, found mainly in developed countries, is Gaye-Wernicke syndrome (otherwise known as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome), which develops in alcoholism.

Korsakoff-Wernicke syndrome is a potentially fatal neurological disorder that is most common in alcoholics. Alcohol directly affects the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation mechanisms of thiamine, which leads to a strong decrease in the concentration of the active form of thiamine.

Wernicke encephalopathy and Korsakoff psychosis are two separate diagnoses. This syndrome causes brain damage in the third and fourth ventricles, thalamus, and mammillary organs. Progression of the disease leads to psychosis and permanent damage to areas of the brain associated with memory. Symptoms of Korsakoff-Wernicke encephalopathy include:

• confusion and loss of mental activity, which may progress to coma;
• loss of muscle coordination (ataxia);
• abnormal eye movements, double vision;
• inability to form new memories;
• memory loss.

Treatment for Wernicke encephalopathy involves intravenous thiamine for 3 to 5 days, followed by a high-potency B-vitamin complex while improvement continues.

When thiamine metabolism is disrupted, first of all, a disorder of oxidative decarboxylation of α-keto acids occurs and the metabolism of carbohydrates is partially blocked. In patients with beriberi, there is an accumulation of underoxidized pyruvate metabolic products, which have a toxic effect on the central nervous system and cause the development of metabolic acidosis. Due to the development of energy deficiency, the efficiency of ion gradient pumps, including cells of nervous and muscle tissue, decreases. The synthesis of fatty acids and the transformation of carbohydrates into fats are disrupted. Increased protein catabolism leads to the development of muscle atrophy and, in children, to delayed physical development. Due to the difficulty in the formation of acetyl CoA from pyruvic acid, the process of choline acetylation suffers.

Experimental studies on thiamine deprivation in mice led to energy deficiency in the liver, increased lactate levels, and decreased transcription of genes associated with lipid and glucose metabolism[5].

General information

Thiamine is an organic compound that is soluble in water but insoluble in alcohol. There are four forms of this substance in the human body, the most common being thiamine diphosphate. Up to 30 g of the substance can accumulate in body tissues, mainly muscle tissues.

We list the main functions of the vitamin:

• plays a critical role in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins;
• participates in the production of ATP (a source of energy for intracellular processes);
• helps convert carbohydrate compounds into glucose (another source of body activity);
• participates in the breakdown of fats and carbohydrates;
• promotes the formation of functional blood cells;
• necessary for the full growth and development of organs and systems;
• supports stable functioning of the nervous system;
• regulates digestive processes;
• controls the activity of the heart muscle;
• protects nerve cells - participates in the process of formation of the myelin sheath around nerve endings, thereby protecting them from destruction;
• stimulates the immune system;
• increases the tone of the smooth muscles of the digestive system, due to which the body absorbs maximum nutrients from food;
• stimulates the activity of the central nervous system - a lack of thiamine negatively affects cognitive abilities;
• protects the health of the visual organs.

In specialized literature, this vitamin is often called anti-stress. And this is true, since weakness and lack of energy caused by thiamine deficiency lead to apathy and depression.

Hypervitaminosis

Hypervitaminosis is typical for thiamine. Parenteral administration of vitamin B1 in a large dose can cause anaphylactic shock due to the ability of thiamine to cause nonspecific degranulation of mast cells. Thiamine in pharmacological doses (from 30 mg) in tablets inhibits cholinesterase and histaminase [ source?

], causing the corresponding syndromes.
It also causes a deficiency of copper, vitamins B2 and B3 in the blood [ source?
].
Levodopa gradually causes hypervitaminosis B1[ source?
] (perhaps this is why there is first an improvement from levodopa, and then a previously unexplained deterioration.) With photodermatoses and SLE, an increased background of B1 and a deficiency of B6 is always recorded, especially after sunbathing.

Indications for use

Thiamine chloride is used to treat vitamin deficiency and hypovitaminosis B1.

In complex treatment, the drug is prescribed for the following diseases and conditions:

• peripheral paralysis and paresis;
• radiculitis, neuritis, neuralgia;
• coronary circulation disorders;
• myocardial dystrophy;
• intestinal atony, anorexia, atonic constipation;
• peptic ulcer of the duodenum and stomach;
• dermatoses of various origins (psoriasis, eczema, lichen planus, neurodermatitis) with metabolic disorders and neurotrophic changes.

Distribution in food

A person receives the main amounts of thiamine from plant foods. Plant foods such as wholemeal wheat bread, soybeans, beans, peas, and spinach are rich in thiamine. The thiamine content is lower in potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. Animal foods that contain thiamine include liver, kidneys, brain, pork, beef, and it is also found in yeast. Milk contains about 0.5 mg/kg.[6] Vitamin B1 is synthesized by certain types of bacteria that make up the microflora of the large intestine.

Reviews of Thiamine Chloride

According to reviews, Thiamine chloride is an effective medicine with a wide range of uses. The drug helps in the complex treatment of neuralgia, radiculitis, stomach ulcers; helps improve hair condition; restores strength and strengthens the immune system. The cost of ampoules is very low.

Among the disadvantages, patients mainly note the pain of the injection itself, the unpleasant odor of the solution, as well as the likelihood of individual intolerance to Thiamine chloride. In addition, there are reviews that say that the ampoules are difficult to open, since there is no ring notch.

Intake rates for thiamine (vitamin B1)

Release form and composition

The drug is available in the form of a solution for intramuscular administration, which is a transparent, slightly colored or colorless liquid with a weak characteristic odor (1 ml in neutral glass ampoules, 5 ampoules in strip packs, 1 or 2 strip packs in a cardboard pack, ceramic ampoule scarifier or ampoule knife, as well as instructions for use of Thiamine chloride).

Composition per 1 ml of solution:

• active ingredient: thiamine hydrochloride – 50 mg;
• auxiliary components: disodium edetate, unithiol (sodium dimercaptopropanesulfonate monohydrate), water for injection.