Abstract
It was found that the deficiency of thiamine can be prevented in rats by the administration of sorbitol.
Even though rats fed on the diet containing 20% of glucose and 80% of rice led to loss of weight, polyneuritis, and death, those fed on the diet containing sorbitol at levels of up to 20% of the carbohydrate-free and thiamine-free diet could survive for 8 weeks and were still gaining the weight.
With 20% dietary sorbitol, the weights of the intestine were three times as great as those of the control animals, and the thiamine contents of the intestine, feces, and blood were equally increased.
The species of the intestinal flora of the dietary sorbitol group was found to be more than those of the control.
It is assumed that the sorbitol would produce a change on the intestinal flora of the rats, so that thiamine is synthesized and become available to the host.
