STUDIES ON ANTAGONISTS OF THIAMINE : (VII) BIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF DEOXYTHIAMINE ON MICE AND RATS

Abstract

Ten mg of deoxythiamine (DOB_1) was given to rats subcutaneously and its metabolites in urine were determined. About 70% of given DOB_1 was excreted in the first five hour urine as DOB_1. LD_<50> of DOB_1 for mice was as follows : 0.34 mg/g for the normal, 0.16mg/g for the thiamine deficient for 6 days, 0.22 mg/g for the thiamine deficient for 14 days. The toxicity of DOB_1 to mice was not reduced by preinjection of thiamine or thiamine pyrophosphate. The daily intraperitoneal injection of 0.8 mg and 1.0 mg of DOB_1 to mice and rats respectively on thiamine deficient diet failed to promote their growth. However, addition of 5 μg of thiamine to them showed the same growth curve as that responsible to 5μg of thiamine alone. Thus no anti-thiamine activity of DOB_1 was observed.