All About Vitamins: Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) Neurotoxicity

By Kyle J. Norton.

Vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, is a water soluble vitamin found abundantly in green peas, yams, broccoli, asparagus and turnip greens,Peanuts, sunflower seeds, cashews and hazelnuts, meat, fish etc., with functions of amino acid, carbohydrate metabolism, brain health, and liver detoxification, etc.

Although vitamin B6 has expressed various health benefits such as induced a healthy metabolism, improved nerve, liver function and enhanced skin health, eye health, over dose of vitamin B6 may cause toxicity in induction of peripheral neuropathy, despite renal excretion of this water-soluble vitamin.

According to the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, in the experiment of anephric rats show that the uremic state, in a mere 3 or 4 days, causes a 5- to 10-fold increase in susceptibility to pyridoxine-induced neuronopathy.

Uremia is a serious medical complication of patients with chronic kidney disease and acute kidney injury.

Therefore, there is a need for caution in prescribing pyridoxine to uremic patients who will probably take the vitamin daily for many years. Large amount intake may only prescribe by medical profession.

Further analysis in the toxicity of over dose vitamin B6, researchers at the above university also conducted a experiment of its toxic effect in ther brain found that dietary protein deficiency may be a culprit in elevation of neurotoxicity of pyridoxine.

In a mere 3 or 7 days of pretreatment with either of two protein-deficient diets were sufficient to accelerate and intensify the clinical neurological signs even in the injection of normal dose of vitamin B6.

Additional examination suggested that the elevated levels of vitamin B6 may be casued by at least in part, by loss of body weight, decreased protein binding in serum and decreased consumption of water and decreased volume of urine, which reduce the urinary losses of the toxicant.

In compared to the levels of toxicity of different types of vitamin B6 derivative, pyridoxine (pyridoxal, pyridoxamine) and the coenzyme (pyridoxal 5-phosphate) did not cause clinical signs or lesions similar to those produced by pyridoxine even when injected in maximum tolerated doses.

More interestingly, in an examined the sequence of nervous system abnormalities that resulted when rats given excess amounts of vitamin B6 (pyridoxine of 1,200 or 600 mg/kg/d) for 6 to 10 days researchers suggested that high dose of vitamin B6 are sensitively affect the large diameter neurons with long processes and large cytoplasmic volumes in compared to application of smaller doses (300 to 150 mg/kg/d) for up to 12 weeks with lesser effects on DRG neurons, but produced a neuropathy with axonal nerve fiber atrophy and degeneration

Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons is a cluster of nerve cell bodies in a dorsal root of a spinal nerve, containing the cell bodies of sensory neurons.

The effect of vitamin B6 are also depending types of animal model used in the experiment as guinea pigs given 1,800 mg/kg/d developed sensory neuronopathy, whereas mice given similar or higher doses did not have neuropathologic abnormalities.

Therefore, multiple factors must be taken into consideration, such as rate of administration, differential neuronal vulnerability, and species susceptibility before one can make the final expression of pyridoxine neurotoxicity.

Taking altogether, vitamin B6 may have many health benefits but intake of large dose as vitamin supplement can only be prescibed by medical professional to prevent neurotoxicity.

 

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Sources
(1) Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) toxicity: enhancement by uremia in rats by Levine S1, Saltzman A.(PubMed)
(2) Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) neurotoxicity: enhancement by protein-deficient diet by Levine S1, Saltzman A.(PubMed)
(3) Dose-dependent expression of neuronopathy after experimental pyridoxine intoxication by Xu Y1, Sladky JT, Brown MJ.(PubMed)

Biography
Kyle J. Norton(Scholar, Master of Nutrients), all right reserved.
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published on line, including world wide health, ezine articles, article base, healthblogs, selfgrowth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bio science, ISSN 0975-6299.