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Nutrient Details For : Vitamin B 6

A nutrient is any element or compound necessary for or contributing to an organism's metabolism, growth, or other functioning. Click name for details Arsenic Biotin Boron Calcium Carbohydrates Carnitine Carotenoids Chloride Choline Chromium Copper Energy Fiber Fluoride Folate Iodine Iron Lipids Magnesium Manganese Molybdenum Niacin Nickel Pantothenic acid Phosphorus Phyto-chemicals Potassium Protein Riboflavin Selenium Silicon Sodium Thiamin Vanadium Vitamin A Vitamin B 12 Vitamin B 6 Vitamin C Vitamin D Vitamin E Vitamin K Zinc Further Trace Elements

Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin that exists in three major chemical forms: pyridoxine, pyridoxal, and pyridoxamine.

It performs a wide variety of functions in your body and is essential for your good health. For example, vitamin B6 is needed for more than 100 enzymes involved in protein metabolism.

It is also essential for red blood cell metabolism. The nervous and immune systems need vitamin B6 to function efficiently and it is also needed for the conversion of tryptophan (an amino acid) to niacin (a vitamin).

Hemoglobin within red blood cells carries oxygen to tissues. Your body needs vitamin B6 to make hemoglobin. Vitamin B6 also helps increase the amount of oxygen carried by hemoglobin.

Vitamin B6, through its involvement in protein metabolism and cellular growth, is important to the immune system. It helps maintain the health of lymphoid organs (thymus, spleen, and lymph nodes) that make your white blood cells.

Vitamin B6 also helps maintain your blood glucose (sugar) within a normal range. When caloric intake is low your body needs vitamin B6 to help convert stored carbohydrate or other nutrients to glucose to maintain normal blood sugar levels.

In the body all three of the chemical forms can be phosphorylated. About 70-80% of the vitamin B6 in the body is located in muscle bound to glycogen phosphorylase, an enzyme involved in releasing glucose from glycogen. About 10% is located in the liver; the remainder is distributed among the other tissues.

B6 is one of the most versatile enzyme cofactors. It is involved in breaking more types of chemical bonds than most cofactors. It is listed in Enzyme Nomenclature as a component of approximately 120 enzymes including at least one entry in 5 of the 6 major enzyme classes.

Pyridoxal phosphate is a cofactor in the metabolism of amino acids and neurotransmitters and in the breakdown of glycogen. Pyridoxal phosphate can bind to steroid hormone receptors and may have a role in regulating steroid hormone action.

Pyridoxal phosphate can be converted to pyridoxamine phosphate which can also serve as an enzyme cofactor. 4-pyridoxic acid is the major excretory product.

Deficiencies:

Alterations in the function of the nervous system evidenced by electroencephalography are among the earliest symptoms of vitamin B-6 deficiency. Severe deficiency may produce seizures, dermatitis, glossitis, cheilosis, angular stomatitis and anemia. Frank deficiencies are rare, but subclinical deficiencies may exist, especially in women and the elderly.

Recommendations:

Adequate Intakes (AI) have been set at 0.1 mg/d for infants up to 6 mo. and 0.3 mg/d for 6 mo. to 1 yr. Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) (mg/d) for children have been set at 0.5 (1-3 yr.), 0.6 (4-8 yr.), and 1.0 (9-13 yr.). For men the RDAs (mg/d) are 1.3 (14-50 yr.) and 1.7 (51+ yr.). For women the RDAs (mg/d) are 1.2 (14 - 18 yrs.), 1.3 (19-50 yr.), 1.5 (51+ yr.), 1.9 during pregnancy, and 2.0 during lactation.

Food sources:

White meats (poultry, fish, pork), bananas and whole grains are good sources of vitamin B6.

Clinical uses:

Pyridoxine-dependent seizures and some types of sideroblastic anemias respond to vitamin B6 supplementation. Vitamin B6 in conjunction with folate and vitamin B12 helps to lower plasma homocysteine, a risk factor for heart disease. Vitamin B6 supplements may be required in conjunction with a number of drugs which have the side-effect of altering vitamin B6 metabolism. Increased concentrations of pyridoxal phosphate in plasma are used as one of the criteria for diagnosing hypophosphatasia.

Because vitamin B6 metabolism is altered in a variety of disease states, there have been suggestions that vitamin B6 supplements may be beneficial in many other conditions.

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