Jejunal uptake of thiamin hydrochloride in man: influence of alcoholism and alcohol.

The jejunal uptake of 35S-thiamin hydrochloride was examined using an intestinal perfusion technique in six young students (group 1), 12 recently drinking alcoholic men (group 3) and in 6 non-drinking men age-matched with the alcoholic men (group 2). The acute effect of alcohol on thiamin uptake was also examined in the alcoholic subjects. At a perfusate thiamin concentration of 0.5 mumol/l, median thiamin uptake was 34.4, 10.4, and 6.8 ng/cm/min in groups 1, 2, and 3 respectively, while for 8.0 mumol thiamin/l, median uptake was 277.2, 102.3, and 98.0 ng/cm/min for these groups respectively. Alcohol, 50 g/l, added to the perfusate gave a 28.9% decrease in uptake of 0.5 microM thiamin, which was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that neither alcoholism nor acute exposure to alcohol limits jejunal uptake of thiamin hydrochloride. Differences noted between young and old controls need further study.