Thiamine absorption in alcoholic delirium patients

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Neuroscience
• Clinical Biochemistry
• Addiction Medicine

Background:

• Vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency is linked to Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome in alcoholism.
• Contradictory findings exist regarding thiamine levels in alcoholics versus non-alcoholics.
• No specific tests differentiate thiamine status in delirium tremens (DT).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate vitamin B1 absorption in patients with delirium tremens.
• To correlate vitamin B1 absorption with the presence of hallucinations and autonomic symptoms in DT.
• To assess changes in vitamin B1 absorption during recovery from DT.

Main Methods:

• Compared vitamin B1 absorption in 70 male patients with DT to 13 controls.
• Patients and controls were hospitalized for alcohol abstinence.
• Thiamine absorption was tested during DT and again 4 weeks later in 33 patients.

Main Results:

• Vitamin B1 absorption was minimally lower in DT patients than controls, but with greater variability.
• Absorption significantly improved within 4 weeks post-delirium.
• Patients with visual hallucinations had lower thiamine absorption than those without.

Conclusions:

• Disturbed vitamin B1 absorption is evident in DT patients, indicated by wide absorption value ranges.
• Absorption improved towards normal levels within 4 weeks, possibly starting during initial alcohol abstinence.
• Reduced vitamin B1 absorption in hallucinating patients aligns with observations in alcoholic hallucinosis.