B6 Vitamin - 250 mg/5 ml - 5 vials

€14.94

High Concentration Vitamin B6 250mg/5 ml - 5 vials recommended for the adults and the elderly.

Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin and is part of the Vitamin B complex group.

The primary role of Vitamin B6 is to act as a coenzyme to many other enzymes in the body that are involved predominantly in metabolism.

This role is performed by the active form of the Vitamin B6, PLP.

Several forms of the Vitamin B6 are known, but pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) is the active form and is a co-factor in many reactions of amino acid metabolism, including transamination, deamination, and decarboxylation.

PLP also is necessary for the enzymatic reaction governing the release of glucose from glycogen.

PLP, the metabolically active form of Vitamin B6, is involved in many aspects of macronutrient metabolism, neurotransmitter synthesis, histamine synthesis, hemoglobin synthesis and function and gene expression.

PLP generally serves as a coenzyme for many reactions and can help facilitate decarboxylation, transamination, racemization, elimination, replacement and beta-group interconversion reactions.

The liver is the site for Vitamin B6 metabolism. Vitamin B6 also plays a role in gluconeogenesis.

PLP can catalyze transamination reactions that are essential for the providing amino acids as a substrate for gluconeogenesis.

Also, Vitamin B6 is a required coenzyme of glycogen phosphorylase,the enzyme that is necessary for glycogenolysis to occur.

This active form is converted from the two other natural forms founds in food: pyridoxal, PLP and pyridoxamine.

Vitamin B6 is widely distributed in foods in both its free and bound forms.

Good sources include meats, whole grain products, vegetables, nuts and bananas.

Cooking, storage and processing losses of Vitamin B6 vary and in some foods may be more than 50%, depending on the form of Vitamin B6 present in the food. Plant foods lose the least during processing as they contain mostly pyridoxine which is far more stable than the pyridoxal or pyridoxamine found in animal foods.

For example, milk can lose 30-70% of its Vitamin B6 content when dried.

Vitamin B6 is found in the germ and aleurone layer of grains and milling results to the reduction of the Vitamin B6 in white flour. Freezing and canning are other food processing methods that results in the loss of Vitamin B6 in foods.

Vitamin B6 is involved in the following metabolic processes:

    - amino acid, glucose and lipid metabolism
    - neurotransmitter synthesis
    - histamine synthesis
    - hemoglobin synthesis and function
    - gene expression

The classic clinical syndrome for Vitamin B6 deficiency is a seborrhoeic dermatitis-like eruption, atrophic glossitis with ulceration, angular cheilitis, conjunctivitis, intertrigo, and neurological symptoms of somnolence, confusion, and neuropathy.

While severe Vitamin B6 deficiency results in dermatological and neurological changes, less severe cases present with metabolic lesions associated with insufficient activities of the co-enzyme PLP .

The most prominent of the lesions is due to impaired tryptophan-niacin conversion. This can be detected based on urinary excretion of xanthurenic acid after an oral tryptophan load.

Vitamin B6 deficiency can also result from impaired transsulfuration of methionine to cysteine. The PLP-dependent transaminases and glycogen phosphorylase provide the vitamin with its role in gluconeogenesis, so deprivation of Vitamin B6 results in impaired glucose tolerance.

A deficiency of Vitamin B6 alone is relatively uncommon and often occurs in association with other Vitamins B complex.

The elderly and alcoholics have an increased risk of Vitamin B6 deficiency, as well as other micronutrient deficiencies.

Renal patients undergoing dialysis may experience Vitamin B6 deficiency.

Also, patients with liver disease, rheumatoid arthritis and those infected with HIV also appear to be at risk, despite adequate dietary intakes.

The availability of Vitamin B6 to the body can be affected by certain drugs such as anticonvulsants and corticosteroids.

The drug isoniazid (used in the treatment of tuberculosis), and cycloserine, penicillamine, and hydro-cortisone all interfere with Vitamin B6 metabolism.

These drugs may form a complex with Vitamin B6 that is inhibitory for pyridoxal kinase, or they may positively displace PLP from binding sites.

Vitamin B6 has been used to treat nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy for decades, commonly in conjunction with other medications such as metoclopramide or doxylamine. Alone, Vitamin B6 has been found safe and effective, though any woman's prenatal caregiver must help guide treatment for these symptoms.

At least one preliminary study has found that Vitamin B6 may increase dream vividness or the ability to recall dreams. It is thought that this effect may be due to the role Vitamin B6 plays in the conversion of Tryptophan to Serotonin!

The intake of Vitamin B6, from either diet or supplements, could cut the risk of Parkinson's disease by half according to a prospective study from the Netherlands. "Stratified analyses showed that this association was restricted to smokers," wrote the authors.

PLP has a role in preventing heart disease. Without enough PLP, a compound called homocysteine builds up in the body. Homocysteine damages blood vessel linings, setting the stage for plaque buildup when the body tries to heal the damage. Vitamin B6 prevents this buildup, thereby reducing the risk of heart attack. PLP lowers blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels and keeps blood platelets from sticking together. All of these properties work to keep heart disease at bay.

Nutritional supplementation with high dose Vitamin B6 and Magnesium is one of the most popular alternative medicine choices for autism but randomized control trials have had mixed results and small sample sizes mean that no conclusions can be drawn as to the efficacy of this treatment.

Some studies suggest that the Vitamin B6 - Magnesium combination can also help attention deficit disorder, citing improvements in hyperactivity, hyperemotivity/aggressiveness and improved school attention.

A lack of the Vitamin B6 may play a role in sensitivity to monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer. This sensitivity can cause headaches, pain and tingling of the upper extremities, nausea, and vomiting. In both of these syndromes, supplementation of PLP alleviates symptoms only when people were deficient in the Vitamin B6 to begin with.

If people are marginally deficient in Vitamin B6, they may be more susceptible to carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel syndrome is characterized by pain and tingling in the wrists after performing repetitive movements or otherwise straining the wrist on a regular basis. Vitamin B6 has been shown in at least two small-scale clinical studies to have a beneficial effect on carpal tunnel syndrome, particularly in cases where no trauma or overuse etiology for the CTS is known.

Vitamin B6 has long been publicized as a cure for premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Study results conflict as to which symptoms are eased, but most of the studies confirm that women who take Vitamin B6 supplements have reductions in bloating, breast pain, and premenstrual acne flare, a condition in which pimples break out about a week before a woman's period begins.There is strong evidence that PLP supplementation, starting ten days before the menstrual period, prevents most pimples from forming. This effect is due to the Vitamin B6's role in hormone and prostaglandin regulation. Skin blemishes are typically caused by a hormone imbalance, which Vitamin B6 helps to regulate.

Mental depression is another condition which may result from low Vitamin B6 intake. Because of PLP's role in Serotonin and other neurotransmitter production, supplementation often helps depressed people feel better, and their mood improves significantly. It may also help improve memory in older adults.

It is also suggested that ingestion of Vitamin B6 can alleviate some of the many symptoms of an alcoholic hangover and morning sickness from pregnancy. This might be due to Vitamin B6's mild diuretic effect.Though the mechanism is not known, results show that PLP has therapeutic effects in clinical trials for diabetic nephropathy.

Larsson & others have shown that Vitamin B6 intake and PLP levels are inversely related to the risk of colon cancer. While in their study the correlation with Vitamin B6 intake was moderate, it was quite dramatic with PLP levels where the risk of colon cancer was nearly decreased in half.

Vitamin B6 is also known to increase the metabolism of Parkinson's medication such as Levodopa, and should be used cautiously.

PLP is involved in almost all amino acid metabolism, from synthesis to breakdown.

1. Transamination: transaminase enzymes needed to break down amino acids are dependent on the presence of PLP. The proper activity of these enzymes are crucial for the process of moving amine groups from one amino acid to another.

2. Transsulfuration: PLP is a coenzyme needed for the proper function of the enzymes cystathionine synthase and cystathionase. These enzymes work to transform methionine into cysteine.

3. Selenoamino acid metabolism: Selenomethionine is the primary dietary form of Selenium. PLP is needed as a cofactor for the enzymes that allow selenium to be used from the dietary form. PLP also plays a co-factor role in releasing selenium from seleno-homocysteine to produce hydrogen selenide. This hydrogen selenide can then be used to incorporate selenium into seleno-proteins.

4. Vitamin B6 is also required for the conversion of tryptophan to niacin and low Vitamin B6 status will impair this conversion.

PLP-dependent enzymes play a role in the biosynthesis of four important neurotransmitters: Serotonin, Epinephrine, Norepinephrine and Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid. Serine racemase, which synthesizes the neuromodulator D-serine, is also a PLP-dependent enzyme.

PLP is involved in the metabolism of histamine.

PLP aids in the synthesis of heme, by serving as a co-enzyme for the enzyme ALA synthase.

PLP also binds to two sites on hemoglobin to enhance the oxygen binding of hemoglobin.

PLP transforms homocysteine into cistation then into cysteine.

PLP has been implicated in increasing or decreasing the expression of certain genes. Increased intracellular levels of the Vitamin B6 will lead to a decrease in the transcription of glucocorticoid hormones.

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