CHAPTER 16: Measurement of Thiamine Levels in Human Tissue

Although thiamine is an essential nutrient used by the body in biosynthetic pathways, it has taken some time to arrive at the appropriate means by which to measure it. The classic method indirectly quantified thiamine status by measuring erythrocyte transketolase activity. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is now considered the most suitable method for the determination of thiamine levels in tissue. Research using HPLC has contributed to the consensus that thiamine status is most accurate when levels of the biologically active form of thiamine, thiamine diphosphate, are measured in whole blood or isolated red blood cells. Severe depletion of thiamine can result in heart failure, peripheral neuropathy, central nervous system damage and death. Individuals susceptible to severe thiamine deficiency include patients with cancer, gastric bypass surgery, hyperemisis gravidarum, AIDS and chronic alcoholism.