【多选题】Which of the following statements about Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome are correct?
A.
Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is a disorder caused by a severe deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B 1 ), a component of TPP. The syndrome is more common among people with alcoholism than in the general population, because chronic, heavy alcohol consumption interferes with the intestinal absorption of thiamine.
B.
The syndrome can be exacerbated by a mutation in the gene for transketolase that results in an enzyme with a lowered affinity for TPP—an affinity one-tenth that of the normal enzyme.
C.
This defect makes individuals much more sensitive to a thiamine deficiency: even a moderate thiamine deficiency (tolerable in individuals with an unmutated transketolase) can drop the level of TPP below that needed to saturate the enzyme. The result is a slowing down of the whole pentose phosphate pathway.
D.
In people with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome this results in a worsening of symptoms, which can include severe memory loss, mental confusion, and partial paralysis.