Wernicke encephalopathy is due to acute dietary deficiency of:

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.