Inhibitory Effect of Thiamine on Japanese B Encephalitis

Abstract

Protective and curative effect of thiamine propyl disulfide (Alinamin-Takeda) was investigated by means of intracerebral and intraperitoneal inoculation of Japanese Bencephalitis virus (Nakayama-strain) into mice.
In case of intracerebral inoculation, thiamine demonstrated a slight protective, but no curative effect.
Contrary to this, in case of intraperitoneal inoculation a pronounced protective as well as curative effect was invariably demonstrated.
Review of all our experiments (5 times) proved the difference of mortality rate to be 55% between the VB₁-pretreated and the contrast group, 32% between the preand post-treated group.
The susceptibility of mice to the virus was heightened, even to the extent as in summer, when the mice had been kept for a while in a high temperature.
However, thiamine was found to be effective in lowering the susceptibility of the mice to approach that of the mice kept in a moderate room temperature.
The consumption of thiamine owing to high temperature lasting in summer probably constitutes the proximate cause to the attack of Japanese B encephalitis.