[The vitamin B 1 nutritional status of the pregnant rat and its litter as a function of dietary thiamine supply]

Abstract

Influence of the dietary supply in thiamine on the vitamin nutritional status of the gestating female rat and of the litter. Four groups of gestating female rats were fed diet containing respectively 2, 4, 6, 8 mg of thiamine par kg. In every group, urinary excretion of thiamine was found to be stable up to the 16th day of gestation and then to decrease markedly during the 5 last days. This result and those concerning the changes in vitamin excretion, as related to the dietary intake, support the hypothesis that thiamine requirement is strongly higher at the end of the gestating period. On the other hand, measurements of thiamine concentration in tissues show that, when thiamine is given in suboptimal quantity, it is priorly fixed by the foetus at the expense of the maternal organs particulary of the liver.