Vitamin B-6 vitamers in human plasma and cerebrospinal fluid

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 100; no. 2; pp. 587 - 592
• Main Authors: Albersen, Monique, Bosma, Marjolein, Luykx, Jurjen J, Jans, Judith J M, Bakker, Steven C, Strengman, Eric, Borgdorff, Paul J, Keijzers, Peter J M, van Dongen, Eric P A, Bruins, Peter, de Sain-van der Velden, Monique G M, Visser, Gepke, Knoers, Nine V V A M, Ophoff, Roel A, Verhoeven-Duif, Nanda M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc 01.08.2014
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; adults; Algorithms; blood; Brain; cerebrospinal fluid; Chromatography; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; clinical nutrition; experimental design; Female; Genetic disorders; Humans; Limit of Detection; Male; Mass spectrometry; Metabolism; Middle Aged; Netherlands; nutrient intake; Plasma; pyridoxal; Pyridoxal - blood; Pyridoxal - cerebrospinal fluid; pyridoxal phosphate; Pyridoxal Phosphate - blood; Pyridoxal Phosphate - cerebrospinal fluid; pyridoxamine; Pyridoxamine - cerebrospinal fluid; Pyridoxic Acid - blood; Pyridoxic Acid - cerebrospinal fluid; pyridoxine; Reference Values; Reproducibility of Results; Sex Characteristics; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; ultra-performance liquid chromatography; Vitamin B; Vitamin B 6 - blood; Vitamin B 6 - cerebrospinal fluid; vitamin metabolism; Young Adult; Netherlands
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.113.082008

Vitamin B-6 comprises a group of 6 interrelated vitamers and is essential for numerous physiologic processes, including brain functioning. Genetic disorders disrupting vitamin B-6 metabolism have severe clinical consequences. To adequately diagnose known and novel disorders in vitamin B-6 metabolism, a reference set is required containing information on all vitamin B-6 vitamers in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Concentrations of vitamin B-6 vitamers in the plasma and CSF of 533 adult subjects were measured by ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The relative vitamin B-6 vitamer composition of plasma [pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) > pyridoxic acid (PA) > pyridoxal] differed from that of CSF (pyridoxal > PLP > PA > pyridoxamine). Sex influenced vitamin B-6 vitamer concentrations in plasma and CSF and should therefore be taken into account when interpreting vitamin B-6 vitamer concentrations. The strict ratios and strong correlations between vitamin B-6 vitamers point to a tight regulation of vitamin B-6 vitamer concentrations in blood and CSF. Given the unique design of this study, with simultaneously withdrawn blood and CSF from a large number of subjects, reliable CSF:plasma ratios and correlations of vitamin B-6 vitamers could be established. We provide an extensive reference set of vitamin B-6 vitamer concentrations in plasma and CSF. In addition to providing insight on the regulation of individual vitamers and their intercompartmental distribution, we anticipate that these data will prove to be a valuable reference set for the diagnosis and treatment of conditions associated with altered vitamin B-6 metabolism.