The influence of vitamin B1 deficiency on the pyruvate exchange of the heart

Abstract The normal heart absorbs both glucose and lactate from the blood stream, 1 substances that must finally be oxidized or converted to glycogen. The influence of the heart on pyruvate, the precursor of lactic acid, has not been studied. It is generally accepted that thiamine is necessary for the utilization of carbohydrate, because that vitamin is required for the oxidation of the carbohydrate split product, pyruvate. In vitamin B 1 deficiency, therefore, pyruvate accumulates and lactate does so even to a greater extent, frequently in a definite ratio to pyruvate. 2 It has been generally assumed that hyperpyruvemia is a result of a decreased ability of all tissues of the body to utilize pyruvate. In the present investigation, the pyruvate exchanges of the heart were examined in animals suffering from vitamin B 1 deficiency and compared with observations made on the heart of adequately nourished animals.