The rapid decline in erythrocyte transketolase on cessation of high-dose thiamine administration in Korsakoff patients.

This paper reports two studies carried out on patients with the Wernicke-Korsakoff (W-K) syndrome and control subjects. All had been mental hospital inpatients for at least 12 months. In the first study the changes in the thiamine-dependent enzyme erythrocyte transketolase (TK) which followed the administration of oral thiamine are described. Essentially the two patient samples responded similarly. In the second study patients who had been maintained on high-dose thiamine for several months stopped this treatment abruptly. The subsequent decline in TK is described. In W-K patients this decline was rapid and virtually complete at four weeks. In control subjects the decline was much more gradual. These findings offer support to other evidence suggesting a difference between TK in W-K and control subjects.