ANEURINE (thiamine) 



body fat occurred when rats were being depleted of aneurine and that 

 the iodine value of the total fatty acids was increased, indicating that 

 the more saturated fatty acids were preferentially metabolised ; addi- 

 tion of aneurine caused rapid decomposition of body fat. Le R. Voris 

 and H. P. Moore ^^ reported finding the exact opposite, however, 

 namely an increase in body fat in vitamin B^ deficiency, but this is 

 contrary to the experience of other workers. F. W. Quackenbush 

 et al.^^ found that on a high carbohydrate, low fat diet, the normal 

 deposition of fat was prevented by a deficiency of pyridoxine or panto- 

 thenic acid, as well as of aneurine, and suggested that the production 

 of fat in the body is not a function of any one dietary factor ; aneurine 

 did not prevent the rapid loss of fat that resulted from a deficiency of 

 other members of the vitamin B complex, nor was it more effective 

 than any of these in increasing the total fat content. 



G. E. Boxer and D. Stetten ^^ also observed a decrease in the 

 deposition of fatty acids when rats were fed a high carbohydrate, fat- 

 free diet low in aneurine ; they attributed the phenomenon to low 

 food intake rather than to a specific effect of aneurine. 



On the whole, therefore, one must conclude that no case has 

 been made out for a connection between aneurine and fat utilisation, 

 and that claims to have obtained evidence for such a connection 

 depend not on a specific effect of aneurine, but rather on reduced 

 food intake due to loss of appetite or to the deliberate restriction of 

 the diet. 



Aneurine and Carbohydrate Metabolism 



On the other hand, there is no doubt as to the connection between 

 aneurine and carbohydrate metabolism, first pointed out as early as 

 1914 by C. Funk, 33 for the symptoms of vitamin B^ deficiency are 

 accentuated or, alternatively, the aneurine requirements are increased, 

 by conditions that demand a greater output of work, e.g. by exercise. 3* 

 The effect of raising the environmental temperature is controversial, 

 C. A. Mills 35 stating that rats require twice as much and chicks four 

 times as much aneurine at 91° F. as at 68° and 70° F. respectively, 

 whilst Kline et al.^^ declare that the aneurine requirements are reduced. 

 The relation between aneurine and carbohydrate metabolism has been 

 elucidated largely by the brilhant researches of R. A. Peters, and is 

 more fully discussed in a later section (see page 90). 



According to J. B. Leonards and A. H. Free,^^ the rate of intes- 

 tinal absorption of galactose by normal rats is 66 % greater than in 

 vitamin Bi-deficient rats and 12 % greater than in pyridoxine de- 

 ficiency, although the absorption was unaffected by riboflavine 

 deficiency. These workers ^8 found that there was no change in the 



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