[Biochemical control of thiamine status in neurotic patients].

It is well established that the glucose represents the main energy source of the brain and that its metabolism supposes the presence of the vitamin B1. On the other hand, it is known that in industrialized countries, the consume (absolute or relative) of products without vitamin B1 (sugar, strong drinks) or containing it insufficiently (preparations derived from flours of low extraction, canned foods) registered a noticeable growth. On account of these premises, we made the hypothesis that the thiamino-glucidic unbalance to which the modern consumer is exposed, could be a factor contributing to the appearance of neurosis, which present now an increased incidence. In order to verify this hypothesis, we studied the vitamin B1 nutritional status in 65 patients recently taken to hospital with "nerosis sick", as well as with 49 healty subjects, who served as controls. We determined the spontaneous thiaminury (concentration, morning hourly debit and per gramme of creatinine), the provoked thiaminury (by means of an loading test, unpublished yet), as well as the erythrocyte transketolase activity and the pyruvic acid in the blood and in the urines (concentration and debit per gramme of creatinine) Compared with the control group, the patients of neurosis the average thiamin excretion was twice reduced, the transketolase activity diminished by 22 per cent, while the pyruvic acid level in blood and its renal elimination were increased by 31-38 per cent (p less than 0,001). After the vitamin B1 treatment, the values changed significatively (p less than 0,05), approaching those found in the healty subjects.