The influence of exercise on vitamin B-6 metabolism

Graduation date: 1982The present study was designed to investigate the\ud effects of exercise on vitamin B-6 metabolism. Four groups\ud of subjects (intermittent, college, untrained, and high school)\ud consisting of nineteen male and two female individuals, participated\ud in the study. The subjects exercised either on a\ud bicycle ergometer, by running three 1500 meter intervals, or\ud both. Blood samples drawn prior to exercise (pre), after exercise\ud (post), and 30 minutes after exercise (30 minute post),\ud were analyzed for plasma pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), plasma\ud B-6 (PB6), glucose, hemoglobin and hematocrit. A 24-hr urine\ud collection the day before and the day of exercise was analyzed\ud for urinary B-6 (UB6), 4-pyridoxic acid (4PA), creatinine, and\ud urea nitrogen.\ud The dietary intake of the four groups was greater than the\ud RDA in vitamin B-6, riboflavin, thiamin, niacin, vitamins A and\ud C, calcium and iron. The B-6/protein ratios of the college and\ud untrained groups were adequate while the high school group's\ud ratios were considered inadequate.\ud The bicycle ergometer had a significant effect on the plasma\ud PLP levels of the college and untrained groups (P< 0.005) and PB6\ud levels of the college group following exercise (P< 0.005). The\ud 30 minute post plasma PLP levels were significantly lower for\ud the college group (P< 0.005).\ud During the run, the college group had significantly higher\ud post exercise levels of plasma PLP (P< 0.005) and PBS (P< 0.005}\ud as compared to the pre exercise sample. The high school group\ud also had significantly higher levels of plasma PLP following,\ud exercise for all three runs (P< 0.005, P< 0.025, and P< 0.01,\ud respectively) as well as higher PB6 levels (P< 0.025, P< 0.01,\ud and P< 0.025, respectively).\ud The college athletes had a greater percent change in plasma\ud PLP (P < 0.01) from the pre to post sample during the run as\ud compared to the high school athletes.\ud Urinary B-6 and 4PA were not significantly altered during\ud either exercise suggesting a shift in PLP and the unphosphorylated\ud forms of vitamin B-6 from one compartment to another. The significantly\ud higher levels of plasma PLP and PB6 following exercise\ud were attributed to an increased utilization of glycogen phosphorylase\ud in the skeletal muscle with a subsequent release of PLP