Effect of acute and chronic ethanol administration on the transport of thiamine from plasma to different brain regions of the rat.

The effect of ethanol (4.7 g/kg body wt intragastrically as a single dose or once daily for 35 days) on the transport of thiamine from plasma to four brain regions (cerebellum, cerebral cortex, pons and medulla) was studied in albino rats. Animals were given an intravenous injection of labelled thiamine with a sampling procedure which allowed the determination of regional blood flow and tissue thiamine uptake. Regional blood flow was found to be enhanced after acute, but non chronic, ethanol administration. The magnitude of increase ranged from 13 to 35% depending on the brain region being considered. Thiamine was transferred from plasma to cerebral tissue by a saturable process with a non-saturable component prevailing at thiamine concentrations above 10-15 microM. Three main modifications in the thiamine transport were found as a result of ethanol treatment: a reduction in affinity for the carrier (Km increased), an increase in maximal transport rate (Jmax) and an increase in non-saturable diffusion (KD constant increased). The effects were more pronounced after acute ethanol administration. As a consequence of these modifications both acute and chronic ethanol treatment caused an increase in thiamine transport rate at high plasma concentrations. On the contrary, at low (physiological) plasma concentrations, thiamine transport was little increased by acute ethanol administration and virtually unaffected by chronic ethanol intoxication.