Vitamin B-6 vitamers in human plasma and cerebrospinal fluid

Background: 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.

Objective: 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).

Design: 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.

Results: 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 Given the unique design of this study, with simultaneously withdrawn blood and CSF from a large number of subjects, reliable CSF:plasma ratios and correlations of vitamin B-6 vitamers could be established.

Conclusions: 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.