[Peculiarities of nucleotide and nucleic acid metabolism in hydroxythiamine-induced vitamin B1 deficiency].

24 hours after administration of hydroxythiamine, the vitamin B1 antimetabolite, the rat liver pools of orotic acid, UDP-glucose and ATP show a decrease. The cellular energy charge calculated from the adenylic nucleotide concentrations also appears to be significantly diminished. The de novo pyrimidine synthesis lowers under these conditions, while the rates of formation and destruction of essential UDP-sugars remain unaffected. The nucleic acid content is at the control level. A comparison of specific activities of UTP and RNA allows one to conclude that the previously observed decrease in [14C]orotate incorporation into RNA under the action of hydroxythiamine reflects the inhibition of RNA synthesis.