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Vitamin B-6 status during childhood: tracking from 2 months to 11 years of age
K Heiskanen1, M Kallio, L Salmenperä
1Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Insights
This study tracked vitamin B-6 status in children from infancy to adolescence. Vitamin B-6 levels were high in infancy, reaching adult levels by age 5, and remained stable over time.
Area of Science:
- Nutritional Science
- Pediatric Health
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Long-term vitamin B-6 status is crucial for child development.
- Understanding vitamin B-6 status development from infancy is essential for establishing optimal nutritional guidelines.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the development and long-term tracking of vitamin B-6 status in healthy children from infancy to early adolescence.
- To assess the stability of vitamin B-6 status markers over time.
Main Methods:
- Follow-up study measuring erythrocyte pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (EPLP) and erythrocyte aspartate transaminase (EAST) stimulation test (basal activity EASTo and activation coefficient alpha EAST).
- Measurements were taken in children at multiple time points: infancy (4, 12 months), early childhood (5 years), and pre-adolescence (11 years).
Main Results:
- Vitamin B-6 status, indicated by EPLP and EAST parameters, was high in infancy and reached adult levels by 5 years of age.
- Vitamin B-6 status showed significant correlation between infancy and later childhood (5 and 11 years).
- Individuals tended to maintain their relative vitamin B-6 status levels from infancy through childhood.
Conclusions:
- Vitamin B-6 status is established early in life and remains relatively stable into adolescence.
- Early life vitamin B-6 status is a reliable indicator of long-term nutritional status in this micronutrient.
- Findings support the importance of adequate vitamin B-6 intake during infancy for sustained health.
Abstract:
To examine the development and tracking of long-term vitamin B-6 status from infancy to early adolescence, measurements of erythrocyte pyridoxal 5'-phosphate concentration (EPLP), the erythrocyte aspartate transaminase (EAST) stimulation test including measurements of basal activity (EASTo) and activation coefficient (alpha EAST), were made in a follow-up study of healthy children aged 2 (n = 139), 4 (n = 147), 6 (n = 157), 9 (n = 159) and 12 mo (n = 188) and 5 y (n = 148). The EAST stimulation test was repeated at 11 y (n = 153). Vitamin B-6 status, high during infancy, reached the adult level by 5 y of age. The 10th to 90th percentile ranges for EPLP values were 61-201 nmol/L at 4 mo, 49-101 nmol/L at 12 mo and 27-59 nmol/L at 5 y. The respective ranges for Easto were 16-24 microkat/L at 4 mo, 13-19 microkat/L at 12 mo, 9-14 microkat/L at 5 y and 25-39 microkat/L at 11 y of age. For alpha EAST values were 1.29-1.54 at 4 mo, 1.48-1.77 at 12 mo, 1.70-2.07 at 5 y and 2.00-2.57 at 11 y. Values for EPLP and the EAST stimulation test in the first year of life correlated with the values at 5 and 11 y. The individuals with values at the extreme ends of the distributions remained there from infancy to childhood up to 3.3 times more often than expected from random variation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)