By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, December 29, 2009, abstracted from “Vitamin B-6 Intake Is Inversely Related to, and the Requirement Is Affected by, Inflammation Status” in the January 2010 issue of the Journal of Nutrition

Vitamin B6 contributes to the function of more than 100 enzymes in the body that include metabolism, immune system function, hormone function, iron biosynthesis, and the making of nerve chemicals called neurotransmitters (1).  As a result, it is no wonder that vitamin B6 has been found helpful for colorectal health (2), morning sickness (3), heart health in women (4), mental health (5), brain health (6), and movement health (7).

Now a new study (8) has shown that one of the ways that vitamin B6 elicits these healthful benefits is by helping maintain healthy inflammation levels.  Defined as “a crucial protective mechanism” that helps repair tissue and protect the body against infection, inflammation is a normal reaction by our immune system to help keep us healthy. But too much inflammation can have disastrous health consequences and lead to heart disease, dementia, arthritis, and type 2 diabetes (9, 10), which cost our healthcare system $448 billion (11), $156 billion (12), $128 billion (13), and $174 billion per year (14).

In the study, researchers looked at levels of vitamin B6 and an inflammatory protein called C-reactive protein in blood samples collected from 2,686 patients who participated in the 2003–2004 National Health And Nutritional Examination Survey (15).  The researchers found that when vitamin B6 intake, through both food and supplements, was between 4 and 4.9 mg per day, there was a 24% reduced risk of having C-reactive protein levels greater than 3 mg/Liter, considered high risk for cardiovascular disease (16), compared to those with the lowest vitamin B6 intake of less than 2 mg per day.

When researchers correlated vitamin B6 blood levels with vitamin B6 intake and C-reactive protein, they found that those with vitamin B6 blood levels greater than 20 nanomoles/Liter and B6 intake greater than 5 mg per day, there was a 48% reduced risk of having C-reactive protein levels greater than 3 mg/Liter compared to those consuming less than 2 mg per day.

For the researchers, “higher vitamin B-6 intakes were linked to protection against inflammation.”  Although vitamin B6 is found in a wide variety of foods including fortified cereals, beans, meat, poultry, fish, and some fruits and vegetables (17), supplementation has been shown to help increase vitamin B6 blood levels (18), giving little excuse as to being unable to maintaining healthy blood levels of vitamin B6.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at mailto:PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com

Reference:

1. Merrill AH Jr, Henderson JM. Diseases associated with defects in vitamin B6 metabolism or utilization. Annu Rev Nutr. 1987;7:137–56
2. Lee JE. Prospective Study of Plasma Vitamin B6 and Risk of Colorectal Cancer in Men. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009 18: 1197-1202 Published Online First March 31, 2009. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-08-1001
3. Jamigorn M.  Acupressure and vitamin B6 to relieve nausea and vomiting in pregnancy: a randomized study.  Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2007 Sep;276(3):245-9. Epub 2007 Feb 21
4. Page JH.  Plasma Vitamin B6 and Risk of Myocardial Infarction in Women.  Circulation 2009; 120:649-655
5. Mousain-Bosc M.  Improvement of neurobehavioral disorders in children supplemented with magnesium-vitamin B6. I. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorders.  Magnes Res 2006 Mar;19(1):46-52
6. de Lau LM.  Dietary folate, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6 and the risk of Parkinson disease.  Neurology. 2006 Jul 25;67(2):315-8
7. Lerner V.  Vitamin B6 Treatment for Tardive Dyskinesia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Study. Jou Clin Psych 2007; 68(11); 1648-1654
8. Morris MS.  Vitamin B-6 Intake Is Inversely Related to, and the Requirement Is Affected by, Inflammation Status.  J. Nutr. 2010 140: 103-110. First published online January 1, 2010; doi:10.3945/jn.109.114397
9. Gil, Polyunsaturated fatty acids and inflammatory diseases, Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy 56 (2002) (8), pp. 388–396
10. I.A. Shiels, S.M. Taylor and D.P. Fairlie, Cell phenotype as a target of drug therapy in chronic inflammatory diseases, Medical Hypotheses 54 (2000) (2), pp. 193–197.
11. “Cardiovascular Disease at a Glance” posted on www.cdc.gov/NCCDPHP/publications/AAG/dhdsp.htm
12. “The Cost of Dementia: $156 billion and rising” posted on www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20050620/cost-of-dementia-156-billion-rising
13. Arthritis – Data and Statistics” posted on www.cdc.gov/arthritis/data_statistics/faqs/cost_analysis.htm
14. “Direct and Indirect Costs of Diabetes in the United States” posted on www.diabetes.org
15. “2003-2004 NHANES” posted  on www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/nhanes2003-2004/current_nhanes_03_04.htm
16. Morris MS.  Trends of Vitamin B6 Status in US Population Sample.  Amer Jou Clin Nutr 2008; 87: 1446-1454
17. “C-reactive protein” posted on www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003356.htm
18. “Vitamin B6” posted on http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitaminb6.asp