Evaluation of Serum Thiamine and Pyridoxine Levels in Patients Undergoing Liver Transplant: A Prospective Study.

OBJECTIVES: This prospective study aimed to compare changes in serum thiamine and pyridoxine levels of patients who underwent liver transplant or living donor hepatectomy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2013 and November 2013, 35 patients with chronic liver disease who underwent liver transplant (the recipient group) and 30 healthy individuals who underwent living donor hepatectomy (the control group) during the same period were prospectively compared in terms of both preoperative and postoperative serum thiamine and pyridoxine levels. The groups were also subjected to intragroup analysis of preoperative and postoperative changes in serum vitamin levels to determine how a major surgical procedure affected serum vitamin levels. Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used for intergroup comparisons and intragroup repeated measurements, respectively.

RESULTS: The intergroup comparisons revealed significant differences in favor of the control group with respect to preoperative thiamine (P < .026) and postoperative thiamine (P < .017) levels, whereas there were statistically significant differences in favor of the recipient group with respect to the preoperative pyridoxine (P < .006) and postoperative pyridoxine (P < .001) levels. The intragroup comparisons showed significant increases in serum thiamine (P < .001) and pyridoxine (P < .031) levels compared with the preoperative serum levels of both vitamins at postoperative day 5 in the recipient group. In the control group, serum thiamine level (P < .001) at postoperative day 5 was significantly different from the preoperative level. On the other hand, a drop in serum pyridoxine level was detected at postoperative day 5, although this was not statistically significant (P < .21).

CONCLUSIONS: This study showed a lower serum thiamine level but a higher serum pyridoxine level in patients with chronic liver disease versus healthy controls. This difference persisted into the early postoperative period. This study also showed significant increases in thiamine and pyridoxine levels after transplant surgery.