Changes of glucose metabolism and skin-collagen neogenesis in vitamin B6 deficiency
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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Generation of Self-assembled Vascularized Human Skin Equivalents
Published on: February 12, 2021
Tomoko Inubushi1, Tomohiro Takasawa, Yasue Tuboi
1Tokushima Bunri University, Faculty of Life Science, Tokushima 770-8514, Japan. inutomo7@tokushima.bunri-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
The mechanism of pellagrous changes in skin caused by a deficiency of vitamin B6 was studied in respect to neogenesis of proline in skin collagen and glucose metabolism. In vitamin B6 deficiency the insulin/glucagon coefficient in serum decreased significantly from 3.02 to 2.32, indicating a metabolic change towards gluconeogenesis. A deficiency of vitamin B6 caused a decrease in the levels of vitamin B6-dependent enzymes, such as ornithine aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase, which also contribute to gluconeogenesis. Because the conversion of ornithine to proline via pyrroline-5-carboxylate was suppressed due to the decrease in ornithine aminotransferase activity, the amount of proline in the skin collagen fraction also decreased significantly in vitamin B6-deficient rats compared with the pair-fed control. These results suggest that the pellagrous lesions in vitamin B6-deficiency are caused by an impaired synthesis of proline from ornithine, which results in the suppression of collagen neogenesis in the skin.
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