thiamine

thiamine

, thiamin

Biochem a soluble white crystalline vitamin that occurs in the outer coat of rice and other grains. It forms part of the vitamin B complex and is essential for carbohydrate metabolism: deficiency leads to nervous disorders and to the disease beriberi. Formula: C₁₂H₁₇ON₄SCl.H₂O

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Thiamine

A water-soluble vitamin found in many foods; pork, liver, and whole grains are particularly rich sources. It is also known as vitamin B₁ or aneurin. The structural formula of thiamine is shown below.

(1)

Thiamine deficiency is known as beriberi in humans and polyneuritis in birds. Muscle and nerve tissues are affected by the deficiency, and poor growth is observed. People with beriberi are irritable, depressed, and weak. They often die of cardiac failure. Wernicke's disease observed in alcoholics is associated with a thiamine deficiency. This disease is characterized by brain lesions, liver disease, and partial paralysis, particularly of the motor nerves of the eye. As is the case in all B vitamin diseases, thiamine deficiency is usually accompanied by deficiencies of other vitamins.

McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Bioscience. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

thiamine

[′thī·ə·mən]

(biochemistry)

C₁₂H₁₇ClN₄OS A member of the vitamin B complex that occurs in many natural sources, frequently in the form of cocarboxylase. Also known as aneurine; vitamin B₁.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Thiamine

 

(vitamin B₁; aneurine), a heterocyclic compound that is one of the water-soluble vitamins. It consists of colorless crystals with a characteristic odor.

Thiamine was first isolated from rice hulls by the Polish scientist K. Funk in 1912 and later was obtained synthetically. In nature, thiamine is synthesized by plants and certain microorganisms; it is found in the greatest quantities in brewers’ yeast, cereal grains, and potatoes. Animals and humans obtain thiamine from food. A shortage of thiamine in the diet results in the appearance of a serious disease, polyneuritis (in beriberi).

The physiological significance of thiamine results from the coenzyme functions of its pyrophosphoric ester, thiamine pyrophosphate (cocarboxylase). The daily requirement of thiamine for humans is 1.5–2 mg. Thiamine and its phosphoric esters and disulfide derivatives are used to treat peripheral neuritis, diabetes mellitus, disorders of the cardiovascular system, and other diseases associated with disruption of carbohydrate metabolism.

REFERENCE

Ostrovskii, Iu. M. Tiamin. Minsk, 1971.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.