Tania Mirza, Urooj Nazim, Raheela Bano, Kefi Iqbal, Iqbal Ahmad.
Clinical Analysis, Metabolism and Bioavailability of Thiamine.
Baqai J Health Sci Jan ;12(2):45-9.

Thiamine is a component of vitamin B-complex and is used in the treatment of beriberi. The active form of the vitamin is thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) which serves as a co-enzyme in various biochemical reactions. It is commercially available in the form of vitamin B-complex and multivitamin preparations. The clinical analysis of the vitamin and its esters is carried out by spectrophotometric, fluorimetric, high performance liquid chromatographic and flow-injection turbidimetric methods. The rates of catabolism and loss of thiamine indicate that in the absence of the vitamin, functional and clinical abnormalities occur in humans within a few weeks period. Thiamine absorption takes place in the intestine by two parallel mechanisms, i.e., saturable active transport and simple diffusion. The bioavailability of thiamine can be assessed by determining maximal thiamine concentration (Cmax) and its time (tmax) in plasma and hemolysates, the area under concentration time curve (AUC), and thiamine excretion in 24-hr urine.

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