LAHORE Nov 30: Researchers at the University of Warwick in collaboration with researchers at the University of Punjab and Sheikh Zayed Hospital have found that high doses of thiamine – vitamin B-1 – can reverse the onset of early diabetic kidney disease.

Collaborating teams of researchers from the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK, led by Dr Naila Rabbani and Prof Paul J Thornalley, and Sheikh Zayed Hospital and Punjab University School of Biological Sciences teams, led by Dr Saadia S Alam and Prof M Waheed Akhtar, discovered that taking high oral doses of thiamine could dramatically decrease the excretion of albumin and reverse early stage kidney disease in type 2 diabetes patients, says a press release.

A paper published in journal Diabetologia reveals that 300mg of thiamine taken orally each day for three months reduces the rate of albumin excretion in type 2 diabetes patients. The albumin excretion rate was decreased by 41 per cent from the value at the start of the study. The results also showed 35 per cent of patients with micro-albuminuria saw a return to normal urinary albumin excretion after being treated with thiamine.

Forty patients with type 2 diabetes aged between 35 and 65 years took part in the trial. They were randomly assigned a placebo or 3x100mg tablets of thiamine a day for three months.

Warwick researchers have already conclusively proven that type 2 diabetes patients have a thiamine deficiency. In an earlier study led by Prof Thornalley at Warwick Medical School, the research team showed that thiamine deficiency could be a key to a range of vascular problems for diabetes patients.

Dr Rabbani said the study had once again highlighted the importance of Vitamin B-1 and they needed to increase awareness about it. The teams would like to imitate a comprehensive programme of public awareness and further development of procedures for thiamine treatment of patients suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus in future.

Kidney disease, or diabetic nephropathy, develops progressively in patients with type 2 diabetes. Early development of kidney disease is assessed by a high excretion rate of the protein albumin from the body in the urine, known as micr-oalbuminuria.