Wernicke encephalopathy is due to acute dietary deficiency of:: (A) Folic acid, (B) Nicotinic acid, (C) Thiamine, (D) Pyridoxine
Answer is C. Wernicke's (ophthalmoparesis, ataxia, and encephalopathy) and Korsakoff's(retrograde and anterograde amnesia) syndrome is common in alcoholics due to thiamine deficiency. Pathogenesis:- Thiamine is needed for oxidative decarboxylation reactions (pyruvate dehydrogenase and a-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase) that are very impoant for the metabolism of glucose. Thiamine deficiency produces a diffuse decrease in cerebral glucose utilization and results in mitochondrial damage. Glutamate accumulates due to impairment of a-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase activity and, in combination with the energy deficiency,may result in excitotoxic cell damage.