Plasma vitamin B-6 forms and their relation to transsulfuration metabolites in a large, population-based study

• Background: Vitamin B-6 exists in different forms; one of those forms, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), serves a cofactor in many enzyme reactions, including the transsulfuration pathway, in which homocysteine is converted to cystathionine and then to cysteine. Data on the relations between indexes of vitamin B-6 status and transsulfuration metabolites in plasma are sparse and conflicting.Objective: We investigated the distribution and associations of various vitamin B-6 species in plasma and their relation to plasma concentrations of transsulfuration metabolites.Design: Nonfasting blood samples from 10 601 healthy subjects with a mean age of 56.4 y were analyzed for all known vitamin B-6 vitamers, folate, cobalamin, riboflavin, total homocysteine, cystathionine, total cysteine, methionine, and creatinine. All subjects were genotyped for the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677C -> T polymorphism.Results: Plasma concentrations of the main vitamin B-6 vitamers-PLP, pyridoxal, and 4-pyridoxic acid-were strongly correlated. Among the vitamin B-6 vitamers, PLP showed the strongest and most consistent inverse relation to total homocysteine and cystathionine, but the dose response was different for the 2 metabolites. The PLP-total homocysteine relation was significant only in the lowest quartile of the vitamin B-6 distribution and was strongest in subjects with the MTHFR 677TT genotype, whereas cystathionine showed a graded response throughout the range of vitamin B-6 vitamer concentrations, and the effect was not modified by the MTHFR 677C -> T genotype.Conclusion: This large population-based study provided precise estimates of the relation between plasma concentrations of vitamin B-6 forms and transsulfuration metabolites as modified by the MTHFR 677C -> T genotype.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Näringslära (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nutrition and Dietetics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

vitamin B-6

homocysteine

cystathionine

cysteine

methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase

trans sulfuration

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