Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome in Monozygotic Twins: A Biochemical Peculiarity

Abstract

A pair of monozygotic twins, one suffering from the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, verified at autopsy, and the other healthy, was studied biochemically. The erythrocyte transketolase of each twin showed abnormalities, though these differed in the two individuals. In the healthy twin, the basal transketolase was low, but responded normally to thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) added in vitro. In the twin with the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome the basal level of the enzyme and its response in vitro were normal, but a period of treatment with thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryldisulphide, led to loss of the in vitro response. It is suggested that, initially, an inborn error of metabolism may have been common to both twins.