A preliminary approach to the study of thiamine phosphorylation and dephosphorylation in some rat nervous regions and the liver.

Free and phosphorylated thiamine were determined in the liver and 9 regions of rat nervous system, after i.p. injection of labeled thiamine. A compartmental model was used to evaluate the rates of the phosphorylation of thiamine and the complete dephosphorylation of its phosphates. Remarkable differences between the liver and the nervous tissue as well as among different nervous regions were shown: high rates were found in hypothalamus, midbrain and cerebellum, low rates in cerebral cortex.