[Thiamine transport into rat erythrocytes]

14C-thiamine transport across the membranes of erythrocytes obtained from blood of normal rats was studied. The active transport was observed at less than 0.5 microM thiamine concentration. An increase in the thiamine concentration resulted in a decrease in the active transport which was accompanied by increased diffusion. Thiamine analogs inhibited its transport into erythrocytes with different efficiency. The rate of thiamine phosphate esters formation in the course of incubation characterized the state of functional activity of the kinase and phosphatase systems. The data obtained suggest that transport and phosphorylation are independent processes in erythrocytes.