title: Role of astrocytes in thiamine deficiency.
abstract: Thiamine deficiency (TD) is the underlying cause of Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE), an acute neurological disorder characterized by structural damage to key periventricular structures in the brain. Increasing evidence suggests these focal histological lesions may be representative of a gliopathy in which astrocyte-related changes are a major feature of the disorder. These changes include a loss of the glutamate transporters GLT-1 and GLAST concomitant with elevated interstitial glutamate levels, lowered brain pH associated with increased lactate production, decreased levels of GFAP, reduction in the levels of glutamine synthetase, swelling, alterations in levels of aquaporin-4, and disruption of the blood-brain barrier. This review focusses on how these manifestations contribute to the pathophysiology of TD and possibly WE.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Szeifoul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Afadlal
authors.forename: Rémi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Labetoulle
authors.forename: Alan S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Hazell
mesh_terms: D027322:Amino Acid Transport System X-AG / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D001692:Biological Transport; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D027342:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 2 / Q000502:physiology; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007655:Ketoglutarate Dehydrogenase Complex / Q000502:physiology; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D011745:Pyrithiamine / Q000633:toxicity; D013832:Thiamine Deficiency / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014899:Wernicke Encephalopathy / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D027322:Amino Acid Transport System X-AG; D027342:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 2; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D011745:Pyrithiamine; D007655:Ketoglutarate Dehydrogenase Complex