nutritional disorders
Vitamin B6 Deficiency and Dependency
Introduction
Because vitamin B6 is present in most foods, dietary deficiency is rare. Secondary deficiency may result from various conditions. Symptoms can include peripheral neuropathy, a pellagra-like syndrome, anemia, and seizures, which, particularly in infants, may not resolve when treated with antiseizure drugs. Impaired metabolism (dependency) is rare; it causes various symptoms, including seizures, intellectual disability, and anemia. Diagnosis is usually clinical; no laboratory test readily assesses vitamin B6 status. Treatment consists of giving oral vitamin B6 and, when possible, treating the cause. Vitamin B6 includes a group of closely related compounds:pyridoxine, pyridoxal, and pyridoxamine. They are metabolized in the body to pyridoxal phosphate, which acts as a coenzyme in many important reactions in blood, central nervous system, and skin metabolism. Vitamin B6 is important in heme and nucleic acid biosynthesis and in lipid, carbohydrate, and amino acid metabolism (see table). Dietary sources of vitamin B6 include organ meats (eg, liver), whole-grain cereals, fish, and legumes. (See also Overview of Vitamins .) 