Blood thiamine and blood folate levels. A comparative study in control, alcoholic and folate-deficient subjects.

A group of 85 patients underwent serum, red blood cell (RBC) folate and whole blood thiamine determinations. The group was divided into three subgroups: 1) a control group (41 patients who had no neurological or mental disorders which could be attributable to a vitamin deficiency); 2) a subgroup of folate-deficient patients (29 Ss) who had folate-responsive neuropsychiatric symptoms and 3) 15 alcoholic patients. There was no significant correlation between blood thiamine levels on one hand and serum and RBC folate on the other in the entire group. Alcoholic patients showed significant lower whole blood thiamine levels (p less than .001) and lower RBC folate (p less than .025) as compared with controls. We conclude that in the great majority of folate-deficient patients there is no correlation between folate and thiamine blood levels.