Thiamin turnover rate in some areas of rat brain and liver: A preliminary note

Summary Thiamin turnover rates in some nervous structures and liver of rats were evaluated in a steady state condition, using thiamin-¹⁴C as a tracer. The radioactivity contents were analyzed by means of a mamillary type compartmental model. Excluding the liver, turnover rate values of the nervous structures were ordered in the following sequence: sciatic nerve (0.58 g/g·h)>cerebellum>hypothalamus>midbrain>corpus striatum>cerebral cortex (0.16 g/g·h).The mathematical section of this work, developed by V.C. and C.R., was supported by C.N.R., Rome, through the Laboratorio di Analisi numerica, Pavia, Italy. We express our thanks to Prodotti Roche, Milan, for the generous gift of labelled and unlabelled thiamin.