Researchers at the University of Warwick have discovered high
doses of thiamine – vitamin B1 – can reverse the onset of early
diabetic kidney disease. 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 microalbuminuria. The research is led by Dr
Naila Rabbani and Professor Paul J Thornalley at Warwick Medical
School, University of Warwick, in collaboration with researchers
at the University of Punjab and Sheik Zaid Hospital, Lahore,
Pakistan. The team has discovered taking high oral doses of
thiamine can dramatically decrease the excretion of albumin and
reverse early stage kidney disease in type 2 diabetes patients.
In a paper published online in the journal Diabetologia, the
team show 300 mg of thiamine taken orally each day for three
months reduced the rate of albumin excretion in type 2 diabetes
patients. The albumin excretion r