The Prevalence of Thiamin Deficiency in Ambulatory Patients with Heart Failure

Thiamin is a required coenzyme in the production of energy to fuel myocardial contraction. Therefore, thiamin deficiency (TD) may contribute to myocardial weakness by limiting the available energy for myocyte contraction. Previous studies report a wide range for the prevalence of TD in patients with heart failure (HF) (3% to 91%). These trials are limited by their small sample size, indirect measurement of thiamin status, exclusion criteria, and their focus on hospitalized patients. Therefore, this study determined the prevalence of TD in a large (n=100) group of ambulatory patients with HF, using high performance liquid chromotography. The prevalence of TD ([thiamin pyrophosphate (TPP)] ≤ 180 nM/l erythrocytes) was found to be 7%. TD was not related to furosemide use, dietary thiamin intake, severity of the HF, or age. More investigation into the factors that may influence development of TD in ambulatory patients with HF is warranted.MAS