Comparison of the 1-¹⁴C-Glucose Metabolism between Red Blood Cells of Germfree and Pathogen-Free Rats on Riboflavin and Thiamine Deficient Diets

Abstract

We have shown that various riboflavin compounds stimulate the pentose phosphate pathway of intact and hemolysed human red blood cells (1). This was demonstrated by measuring the amount of radioactive carbon dioxide (¹⁴CO₂) produced from glucose with the radioactivity on the first carbon (1-¹⁴C-glucose). In addition, data obtained from red blood cells of normal human volunteers on a thiamine-deficient diet showed a marked decrease in ¹⁴CO₂ production during the deficiency period. Thus, during the course of studies on riboflavin (2) and thiamine nutrition in male germfree (GF) and male pathogen-free (PF) rats, red blood cells (RBCs) of these animals were obtained at various periods of the dietary regimen and the 1-¹⁴C-glucose metabolism of these rodent RBCs was compared.