QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Coburn, S. P. Articles by Madsen, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Coburn, S. P. Articles by Madsen, D.

Effects of Vitamin B-6 Deficiency and 4'-Deoxypyridoxine on Pyridoxal Phosphate Concentrations, Pyridoxine Kinase and Other Aspects of Metabolism in the Rat

Stephen P. Coburn, J. Dennis Mahuren, Wayne E. Schaltenbrand, Bernard S. Wostmann^* and David Madsen^*

Fort Wayne State Hospital and Training Center, Fort Wayne, IN 46815 and ^* University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556

Male rats about 100 days old were fed a B-6-deficient diet supplemented with 4'-deoxypyridoxine (1 g/kg diet) and/or pyridoxine hydrochloride (22 mg/kg diet) for 30 to 35 days. Addition of 4'-deoxypyridoxine to the B-6-deficient diet produced greater losses in body weight (P < 0.05) and thymus weight (P < 0.01) than in B-6-deficient pair-fed controls. 4'-Deoxypyridoxine combined with a B-6-deficient diet produced no decreases in the concentration of pyridoxal phosphate or pyridoxine kinase in the tissues examined when compared with B-6-deficient controls. Addition of deoxypyridoxine to a diet containing adequate B-6 tended to reduce the absolute weight of the adrenal glands and increased (P < 0.05) plasma cholesterol compared with animals receiving only vitamin B-6. Compared with the B-6-deficient groups, pyridoxal phosphate concentrations in animals receiving normal B-6 were significantly (P < 0.01) increased in the liver, muscle and adrenal glands but not in the thymus. In all groups the pyridoxine kinase activity was highest in the adrenal glands (3.6–6.3 pmole pyridoxine phosphate/minute/mg tissue) followed by the liver (1.3–3.7) and thymus (0.7–1.3). These high kinase values and the weight changes suggest an important role for vitamin B-6 in these organs. Recent evidence that pyridoxal phosphate may interact with glucocorticoid receptors raises the possibility that the role of vitamin B-6 in these and other organs may involve metabolic regulation by a mechanism independent of the well-established coenzyme function of this vitamin.

KEY WORDS: • vitamin B-6 • deoxypyridoxine • adrenal glands

Manuscript received 26 June 1980.