What Is a Thiamine Deficiency?

Vitamin B1 Deficiency Vitamin B1 Deficiency is a compound composed of a pyrimidine ring and a thiazole ring. Because it contains sulfur and amino groups in the molecule, it is also called Thiamine. Thiamine is a substance necessary for carbohydrate metabolism in poultry. Disorders of carbohydrate metabolism and nervous system disease in poultry caused by vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency are the main clinical features, which are called vitamin B1 deficiency.

Vitamin B1 deficiency in chickens

This entry lacks an information bar and an overview map . Supplementing related content makes the entry more complete and can be upgraded quickly. Come on!

Vitamin B1 Deficiency Vitamin B1 Deficiency is a compound composed of a pyrimidine ring and a thiazole ring. Because it contains sulfur and amino groups in the molecule, it is also called Thiamine. Thiamine is a substance necessary for carbohydrate metabolism in poultry. Disorders of carbohydrate metabolism and nervous system disease in poultry caused by vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency are the main clinical features, which are called vitamin B1 deficiency.

Thiamine is abundant in most commonly used feeds, especially the bran as a by-product of the processing of cereal seeds and feed yeast can reach 7-16 mg per kilogram. Vegetable protein feed contains about 3-9 mg per kg. Therefore, the rations used by poultry in practical applications can contain sufficient thiamine without the need to supplement with high thiamine. However, poultry still suffers from thiamine deficiency, the main cause of which is the destruction of thiamine in the diet. Waterfowl or poultry eat large quantities of fresh fish, shrimp and molluscs. They contain thiaminase, which can destroy thiamine and cause thiamine deficiency. Diets can also be destroyed by cooking, heating, and alkalizing. In addition, the diet contains thiamine antagonists that make thiamine deficient. For example, diets containing fern plants, coccidia inhibitors, alanin, certain plants, fungi, and bacteria can all cause Thiamine deficiency causes disease.

Thiamine is a coenzyme of many cellular enzymes in the body, and its active form is thiamine pyrophosphate, which participates in the oxidative decarboxylation reaction of -keto acids (pyruvate, -ketoglutarate) during sugar metabolism. In the absence of thiamine in poultry, oxidative decomposition of pyruvate is not easy to proceed. Pyruvate cannot enter the tricarboxylic acid cycle for oxidation and accumulate in the blood and tissues. The energy supply is insufficient, which affects the functions of nerve tissue, heart and muscle. Nervous tissues are mainly damaged by sugar oxidation. Sick birds show obvious neurological symptoms such as inadequate cardiac function, dyskinesia, convulsions, decreased muscle strength, tonic spasm, angulation of the angular arch, and paralysis of peripheral nerves. Therefore, this thiamine deficiency is called polyneuritis.

Thiamine can still inhibit cholinesterase, reduce the hydrolysis of acetylcholine, accelerate and enhance the process of acetylcholine synthesis. When thiamine is lacking, cholinesterase activity is abnormally increased, and acetylcholine is hydrolyzed to fail to enhance the normal regulation of gastrointestinal motility, glandular secretion, and the digestive system and skeletal muscle. Therefore, when poultry suffers from polyneuritis, it is often accompanied by indigestion, loss of appetite, weight loss, and weak contraction of skeletal muscle.

Thiamine belongs to the water-soluble vitamin B group, and water-soluble vitamins are rarely or rarely stored in the body. Therefore, a short period of deficiency or deficiency is enough to reduce the activity of some enzymes in the body, inhibit the corresponding metabolic processes, and affect the productivity and disease resistance of poultry. However, clinical symptoms only manifest when the vitamin B supply is insufficient for a long period of time.

Chicks are very sensitive to thiamine deficiency, and polyneuritis symptoms can appear in about 10 days after feeding a diet lacking thiamine. The sick chicken suddenly became ill and showed a "stargazing" posture. The head was bent to the back and turned into an angled bow. Due to the paralysis of the legs, the chicken could not stand and walk. Severe failure died.

Adult chicken thiamine deficiency appears clinically only after about 3 weeks. Appetite loss at the beginning of the disease, slow growth, loose and dull feathers, weak legs and unstable gait. Cockscombs are often blue-purple. Later, the neurological symptoms gradually became obvious, starting with the flexion of the toes flexion, and then progressed upwards, and the extensor muscles of the legs, wings and neck obviously appeared paralyzed. Some sick chickens develop anemia and diarrhea. Body temperature dropped to 35.5 ° C. Respiratory rate decreases progressively. Death due to exhaustion.

The skin of dead thiamine-deficient chicks showed extensive edema, and the degree of edema was determined by the degree of adrenal hypertrophy. Adrenal hypertrophy is more pronounced in females than in males, and hypertrophy in the adrenal cortex is greater than in the medulla. The adrenaline content in the enlarged adrenal glands also increases. The reproductive organs of the sick and dead chicks showed atrophy, and the testicles were more atrophic than the ovaries. The heart is slightly atrophic, the right heart may be enlarged, and the atrium is more vulnerable than the ventricle. Atrophy of the stomach and intestinal wall was observed with the naked eye, while the intestinal glands of the duodenum became dilated. Observed under a microscope, the mitosis of the epithelial cells of the duodenal intestinal gland was significantly reduced, and the mucosal epithelium disappeared in the later period, leaving only a frame of connective tissue. Necrotic cells and cell debris accumulate in the enlarged intestinal glands. The cytoplasm of exocrine cells of the pancreas appears vacuolated and hyaline bodies are formed. These changes are thought to be caused by the lack of oxygen in the cells, causing damage to the mitochondria.

The diagnosis can be made mainly based on the age of onset of poultry, epidemiological characteristics, lack of vitamin B1 in feed, and the symptoms and pathological changes of polyneuritis in the clinic.

In production practice, after applying diagnostic treatment, that is, after giving a sufficient amount of vitamin B1, obvious effects can be seen.

According to the oxidation product of vitamin B1 (thiamine) is a substance with blue fluorescence called thiochrome. The fluorescence intensity is directly proportional to the B1 content. Therefore, the principle of quantitative determination with fluorescence method can be used to determine the blood, urine, tissue, and thiamine content in sick birds. In order to achieve the exact diagnosis and monitoring and prediction of the disease.

Caused by direct stabbing of vaccines or scratching secondary staphylococcal infections due to non-sterilization. Characterized by festering wings and back. Expelling local treatment, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory.

Intramuscular or subcutaneous injection of sick poultry with thiamine, as long as the diagnosis is correct, the effect can be seen within a few hours. Thiamine can also be administered via VI. Attention to prevent sick birds from anorexia without taking the medicine mixed in the material, did not achieve the purpose of treatment.

Taking effective measures against the cause is able to stop the occurrence of this disease. If waterfowl eat a lot of fish and become ill, you can reduce the amount of fresh fish, shrimp, and mollusks' internal organs, or destroy the thiaminase they contain first.