Medication Summary

The goals of pharmacotherapy are to correct the vitamin deficiency, reduce morbidity, and prevent complications. Suspected cases of thiamine deficiency are treated with prompt administration of parenteral thiamine; therapy continues until all symptoms of the deficiency have disappeared. Even at high concentrations, thiamine is not toxic in a person with normal renal function. Most outpatient care is targeted at delivering thiamine in a bioavailable form to rehabilitated patients.

Class Summary

Vitamins are essential for normal deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis. Thiamine pyrophosphate, the biologically active form of thiamine (vitamin B-1), acts as a coenzyme in carbohydrate metabolism through the decarboxylation of alpha ketoacids. It also takes part in the formation of glucose by acting as a coenzyme for the transketolase in the pentose monophosphate pathway.

Thiamine

View full drug information

Thiamine is used to replenish the body's stores of the coenzyme thiamine pyrophosphate. The duration of parenteral thiamine therapy depends on the symptoms of thiamine deficiency; treatment is administered until all symptoms are gone.

Questions

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Beriberi in an adult patient.

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Author

Dieu-Thu Nguyen-Khoa, MD, FACP Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine; Physician Specialist, Department of Primary Care and Community Medicine, ValleyCare Olive View-UCLA Medical Center

Dieu-Thu Nguyen-Khoa, MD, FACP is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Physicians, American Medical Association

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Ginette V Busschots, MD Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Foote Hospital, University of Michigan Medical School

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Phyllis A Vallee, MD Associate Program Director, Department of Emergency Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital

Phyllis A Vallee, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American Medical Association, Michigan State Medical Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Romesh Khardori, MD, PhD, FACP (Retired) Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School

Romesh Khardori, MD, PhD, FACP is a member of the following medical societies: American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, American College of Physicians, American Diabetes Association, Endocrine Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Additional Contributors

Dennis W Cope, MD, FACP Emeritus Professor of Clinical Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine; Chief, Department of Internal Medicine, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center

Dennis W Cope, MD, FACP is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Physicians, Society of General Internal Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Acknowledgements

Don S Schalch, MD Professor Emeritus, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics

Don S Schalch, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Diabetes Association, American Federation for Medical Research, Central Society for Clinical Research, and Endocrine Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Editor-in-Chief, Medscape Drug Reference

Disclosure: Medscape Salary Employment

Stanley Wallach, MD Executive Director, American College of Nutrition; Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine

Stanley Wallach, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Nutrition, American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, American Society for Clinical Investigation, American Society for Clinical Nutrition, American Society for Nutritional Sciences, Association of American Physicians, and Endocrine Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Population	Age	Allowance, mg/day
Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs)
Boys	9-13 years	0.9
Men	>14 years	1.2
Girls	9-13 years	0.9
Women	14-18 years	1.0
Women	>19 years	1.1
Pregnant/lactating women	. . .	1.4
Children	1-3 years	0.5
Children	4-8 years	0.6
Adequate Intakes (AIs)
Infant	0-6 months	0.2
Infant	7-12 months	0.3

Beriberi (Thiamine Deficiency) Medication

Medication Summary

Vitamins

Class Summary

Thiamine

Thiamine

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