Elsevier

Medical Hypotheses

Volume 45, Issue 3, September 1995, Pages 265-267
Medical Hypotheses

Hypothesis on cellular ATP depletion and adenosine release as causes of heart failure and vasodilatation in cardiovascular beriberi

https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-9877(95)90115-9Get rights and content

Abstract

Cardiovascular beriberi is a syndrome caused by thiamine deficiency and characterized by systemic vasodilatation, heart failure and lactic acidosis. The occurrence of heart failure and vasodilatation is yet unexplained: neither theoretical nor experimental data are known. In this article, it is suggested that a fall of cellular ATP levels causes heart failure and that the release of adenosine is the cause of vasodilatation.

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