Thiamin requirement of the adult human

Abstract

Young adult male subjects maintained on a metabolic ward were fed diets providing controlled intakes of thiamin and either 2800 or 3600 kcal. The higher level of calories was attained by an increased intake of carbohydrates. Constant weights were maintained by the subjects by adjusting daily activity and exercise schedules. Thiamin requirements were evaluated in terms of erythrocyte transketolase activity and urinary excretion of the vitamin. The results of the study revealed that a relationship exists between thiamin requirement and caloric intake and expenditure. Thus, when the calories being utilized were derived primarily from carbohydrate sources, the minimum adult male requirement for thiamin appeared to be 0.30 mg of thiamin per 1000 kcal. Urinary excretion of thiamin and erythrocyte transketolase activity appear to be reasonably reliable reflections of thiamin intakes and thiamin nutritional status. The use of these measurements in nutrition surveys appears justified. The microbiological assay (Lactobacillus viridescens) for measuring thiamin levels in urine samples appears to be a somewhat more sensitive but valid procedure as an alternate for the thiochrome method. Judged from the results of this study, the recommended intake for the adult human of 0.40 mg of thiamin per 1000 kcal by FAO/WHO and the recommended allowance of 0.5 mg per 1000 kcal by the Food and Nutrition Board of the NAS-NRC appear reasonable and amply allow for biological variations and other factors that may influence the requirement for this vitamin.

Mitochondrial myopathy and familial thiamine deficiency

“…20 Treatment with thiamine decreased the blood pyruvate concentration by increasing TCA cycle flux. This treatment improved the myopathy and beriberi heart disease in patient 1 and decreased the blood concentrations of lactate and pyruvate in both patients.…”

“…Recurrent lower extremity edema developed in the siblings at 15 years of age, which is when thiamine requirements become the greatest (i.e., in the second and third decades of life), because the thiamine requirement for humans is 0.5 mg/1,000 kcal/day. 20 The recommended daily thiamine requirements for Japanese males between 15 and 22 years of age is 1.3 mg/day compared to 1.4 and 1.5 mg/day for males in the USA. 9 In the present study, the first pedigree analysis demonstrated thiamine deficiency in the siblings and their parents.…”

Micronutrients: interaction between physical activity, intakes and requirements

“…Indeed, some old data support the above view: Sauberlich et al 8 found that thiamin requirements in male subjects were 30% higher when daily energy intake was 15.1 MJ. (3600 kcal), compared with 11.7 MJ.…”

Micronutrient Status in Females during a 24-Week Fitness-Type Exercise Program

“…It has been proposed that thiamin [30] and ribo flavin [6] requirements are higher in the phys ically active, but these viewpoints have also been questioned [31,32], It is possible that the lack of changes in thiamin and riboflavin status indicators during the present exercise program was due to adequate dietary intakes or that the increase in total daily EE was not large enough.…”