Vitamin B6 or pyridoxine is a non-caloric organic substance, essential to our metabolism and not produced by our body. It is water-soluble and is rapidly eliminated in the urine. It is found in many foods, including beans, grains, nuts, fish, meat, vegetables and fruits.
Vitamin B6 is the precursor of pyridoxal phosphate, a coenzyme involved in a hundred enzymatic systems related to amino acid metabolism. It is an essential cofactor in the metabolism of amino acids, carbohydrates and lipids. The chemical reactions in which it intervenes allow the synthesis and degradation of certain amino acids (tryptophan, tyrosine, cysteine, methionine), the synthesis of hemoglobin, the metabolism of glycogen and lipids. It also participates in immunity through the production of interleukin-2. Vitamin B6 deficiencies are rare in Western countries and often combine several causes: reduced intake, absorption disorder and/or disruption of the proper functions of vitamin B6. Alcohol addicts, elderly people, pregnant or breastfeeding women whose needs increase, non-supplemented hemodialysis patients are people at risk of deficiency.
Are you well informed about the properties of this vitamin and the risks associated with a possible deficiency? Test your knowledge of the clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of vitamin B6 deficiency with this 5-question quiz.
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Cite this article: Quick Quiz: Vitamin B6 Deficiency – Medscape – August 29, 2022.