Abstract
As O-benzoylthiamine (OBT) was shown to be more inhibitory to thiamine-uptake by the cells of Lactobacillus fermenti than pyrithiamine, toxicity and biological activity of OBT were checked on animals. Acute toxicity of OBT on mice was proved to be nearly equal to or a little weaker than thiamine-HCl. Growth of rats on thiamine-deficient diet was stimulated by oral daily dose of 10 μg Eq. OBT but not by 5 μg Eq.-dose, while the growth on 5 μg -dose of thaimine-HCl was shown to be equal to that on 10 μg Eq.-dose of OBT. Weight-gain of the thiamine-deficient rats on single dose of 100 μg Eq. OBT was smaller and shorter in their duration than that on thiamine-HCl. When 5 mg Eq./kg of OBT or thianime-HCl were orally given to rats, the increase of blood thiamine contents after one hour was significatly lower than that by thiamine-HCl but when given to chicken, no significant difference of thiamine-levels in blood was observed.
