Patients who suffer Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) have a 30-80% incidence of thiamine deficiency
causing Wernicke's Encephalopathy (WE).
Intravenous (IV) thiamine replacement is standard practice in the treatment of alcoholic
patients presenting to the Accident & Emergency (A&E) department, however routine
co-supplementation with magnesium (administered IV as magnesium sulphate ), which is required
as a co-factor for thiamine in some metabolic processes, e. g. on the activity of the enzyme
transketolase in red blood cells, is not routine practice in the treatment of these patients.
Without correction of concomitant magnesium deficiency there may be impaired utilisation of
thiamine resulting in a failure to treat WE.
This study is designed to determine if administration of magnesium to AUD patients affects
red cell transketolasae and serum lactate concentrations by itself, or only acts to increase
the effect of thiamine on the activity of this enzyme.