Metabolic Functions of Thiamin

Sweat may contain up to 30 to 60 nmol of thiamin per L. In very hot conditions, this may represent a significant loss of the vitamin. 

The biological half-life of thiamin is 10 to 20 days, and deficiency signs can develop rapidly during depletion. 

There are differences in the pathways of thiamin hiosynthesis between prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and also between organisms that are aerobes and facultative anaerobes. Some organisms are completely autotrophic for thiamin, whereas others require the presence of either preformed pyrimidine or thiazole in the culture medium, and indeed some require both. 

The thiazole ring is synthesized from a pentulose or deoxypentulose 5-phosphate and either glycine or tryptophan, depending on the organism. Incorporation of sulfur leads to formation of hydroxymethyl thiazole, which is then phosphorylated. The sulfur comes from cysteine and is incorporated by formation of a thiocarboxylate at the carboxyl terminal of the enzyme, unlike biotin synthesis (Section 11.1.1), where an iron-sulfur cluster at the active site of the enzyme is the donor. 

The final step in the synthesis of thiamin involves condensation between the hydroxymethylpyrimidine diphosphate andhydroxyethylthiazole monophosphate to yield thiamin monophosphate, which can then be dephosphorylated to free thiamin or phosphorylated further to the diphosphate and triphosphate (Hohmann and Meacock, 1998 Begley et al., 1999). 

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One has only to think of the extraordinarily varied metabolic functions of thiamine, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, and biotin to realize that it is most unlikely that ascorbic acid could possibly replace every one of these. Moreover, one would have to postulate a quite different mechanism for the large number of other substances, such as sorbitol, sorbose, arabitol, and starch, which spare B vitamins even more readily than ascorbic acid, but which do not have its redox properties. 

The clinical significance of thiamine and its necessity for pyruvic acid oxidation has been discussed. Recent reports concerning the coenzyme function of thiamine in pentose (H13), tryptophan (D2), and lipoic acid metabolism (R6) have increased our knowledge of thiamine in metabolism and lend added interest to the role of thiamine in clinical problems. This method has also been used to assay thiamine in liver and brain. 

The diphosphate ester, TPP, is the physiologically active vitamer and functions as a coenzyme (67,68). The absorption, metabolism, and physiological functions of thiamine have recently been reviewed (20,67,68). 

The metabolic functions of pantothenic acid in human biochemistry are mediated through the synthesis of CoA. Pantothenic acid is a structural component of CoA. which is necessary for many important metabolic processes. Pantothenic acid is incorporated into CoA by a. series of five enzyme-catalyzed reactions. CoA is involved in the activation of fatty acids before oxidation, which requires ATP to form the respective fatty ocyl-CoA derivatives. Pantothenic acid aI.so participates in fatty acid oxidation in the final step, forming acetyl-CoA. Acetyl-CoA is also formed from pyruvate decarboxylation, in which CoA participates with thiamine pyrophosphate and lipoic acid, two other important coenzymes. Thiamine pyrophosphate is the actual decarboxylating coenzyme that functions with lipoic acid to form acetyidihydrolipoic acid from pyruvate decarboxylation. CoA then accepts the acetyl group from acetyidihydrolipoic acid to form acetyl-CoA. Acetyl-CoA is an acetyl donor in many processes and is the precursor in important biosyntheses (e.g.. those of fatty acids, steroids, porphyrins, and acetylcholine). 

Rice bran is the richest natural source of B-complex vitamins. Considerable amounts of thiamin (Bl), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5) and pyridoxin (B6) are available in rice bran (Table 17.1). Thiamin (Bl) is central to carbohydrate metabolism and kreb s cycle function. Niacin (B3) also plays a key role in carbohydrate metabolism for the synthesis of GTF (Glucose Tolerance Factor). As a pre-cursor to NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-oxidized form), it is an important metabolite concerned with intracellular energy production. It prevents the depletion of NAD in the pancreatic beta cells. It also promotes healthy cholesterol levels not only by decreasing LDL-C but also by improving HDL-C. It is the safest nutritional approach to normalizing cholesterol levels. Pyridoxine (B6) helps to regulate blood glucose levels, prevents peripheral neuropathy in diabetics and improves the immune function. 

Thiamin was the first of the vitamins to be demonstrated to have a clearly defined metabolic function as a coenzyme indeed, the studies of Peters group in the 1920s and 1930s laid the foundations not only of nutritional biochemistry but also of modern metabolic biochemistry and neurochemistry. Despite this, the mechanism by which thiamin deficiency results in central and peripheral nervous system lesions remains unclear in addition to its established coenzyme role, thiamin regulates the activity of a chloride transporter in nerve cells. 

Early studies showed that the development of neurological abnormalities in thiamin deficiency did not follow the same time course as the impairment of pyruvate and 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase or transketolase activities. The brain regions in which metabolic disturbances are most marked were not those that are vulnerable to anatomical lesions. These studies suggested a function for thiamin in the nervous system other than its coenzyme role. 

Addition of thiamine to thiamine-free cellular preparations or to animals early in the progression of thiamine deficiency results in a rapid normalisation of function and of neurotransmitter synthesis. This reversible metabolic phenomenon is generally referred to as the biochemical lesion in thiamine deficiency. 

Harata N, Iwasaki Y (1995) Evidence for early blood-brain btirrier breakdown in experimental thiamine deficiency in the mouse. Metab Brain Dis 10(2) 159-174 Harper CG (1983) The incidence of Wernicke s encephalopathy in Australia A neuropathological study of 131 cases. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 46 593-598 Harper CG, Butterworth RF (1997) Nutritional and metabolic disorders. In Graham DI, Lantos PL (eds) Greenfield s neuropathology. Arnold, London, pp 601-655 Hayton SM, Kriss T, Wase A, Muller DP (2006) Effects on neural function of repleting vitamin E-deflcient rats with alpha-tocopherol. J Neurophysiol 95(4) 2553-2559 Hayton SM, MuUer DP (2004) Vitamin E in neural and visual function. Ann N Y Acad Sd 1031 263-270... 

In higher mammalian organisms, thiamine is transformed to the coenzyme thiamine pyrophosphate by direct pyrophosphate transfer from ATP. This coenzyme performs important metabolic functions, for example, as cocarboxylase in the decarboxylation of rr-keto acids (such as pyruvate to form acctyl-CoA) and in tran.sketolases (such as use of pentoses in the hexose monophosphate shunt). 

Determination of the effective functioning of particular enzymes or metabolic pathways potentially may be useful in demonstrating adequacy of provision. Enzymes in plasma that may be helpful in this regard are glutathione peroxidase as an index of selenium status, and red cell enzymes, such as transketolase (thiamine), glutathione reductase (riboflavin) or transaminase (pyridoxine), or glutathione peroxidase (selenium) are all widely used. Methyltetrahydrofolate reductase is involved in metabolism of homocysteine, hence assessment of plasma homocysteine is a useful measure of... 

Most vitamins function either as a hormone/ chemical messenger (cholecalciferol), structural component in some metabolic process (pantothenic acid), or a coenzyme (phytonadi-one, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine, biotin, folic acid, cyanocobalamin). At least one vitamin has more than one biochemical role. Vitamin A as an aldehyde (retinal) is a structural component of the visual pigment rhodopsin and, in its acid form (retinoic acid), is a regulator of cell differentiation. The precise biochemical functions of ascorbic acid and a-tocopherol still are not well defined. 

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