In vivo and in vitro proton NMR spectroscopic studies of thiamine-deficient rat brains.
Thiamine deficiency (TD) in rats produces lesions similar to those found in humans with Wernicke's encephalopathy, an organic mental disorder associated with alcoholism. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 24) were deprived of thiamine in a regimen of thiamine-deficient chow and daily intraperitoneal injections of the thiamine antagonist pyrithiamine hydrobromide for 12 days (0.5 mg/kg). In rats with TD, significant changes were observed in the choline peak (reduction and dose-dependent recovery after thiamine replenishment), which was confirmed by the extraction study. Changes were mainly due to the reduction in glycerophosphorylcholine (GPC), suggesting that a reduction in GPC may be relevant to the primary biochemical lesion in TD. These data are compatible with the hypothesis that a decrease in choline compounds is the cause of the biochemical abnormalities that precede neuroanatomic damage characteristic of Wernicke's encephalopathy.
Lee
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Department of Radiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA. leeh@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu
Holburn
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Price
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D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005997:Glycerylphosphorylcholine / Q000378:metabolism; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013832:Thiamine Deficiency / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014899:Wernicke Encephalopathy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*
D005997:Glycerylphosphorylcholine; D002794:Choline