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Functions of Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 is a vitamin that is water-soluble. First isolated and realized in the 1930s, there are three primary forms of vitamin b6 — these are PL, PN, and PM, or pyridoxal, pyridoxine, and pyriodxamine respectively. The primary coenzyne form of B6 is PLP, or phosophate ester derivative pyridoxal 5′-phosphate. It’s crucial for your metabolism to operate.

Vitamin B6 must be acquired through our diet either in food or supplement form. About 100 important enzymes in our bodies that catalyze essential reactions in our body rely on PLP to play a vital role. As one example, PLP provides a function for glycoegen phosphorylase as a coenzyme. It releases glucose from stored oxygen.

Here are the primary ways vitamin B6 functions in your body:

Nervous system function

In your brain, a PLP-dependant enzyme synthesis serotonin, a neurotransmitter, from the amino acid. This isn’t the only neurotransmitter reliant on PLP, however — dopamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid and norepinephrine are also synthesized using enzymes dependent on PLP.

Formation of Niacin

Another B vitamin, nician, is also important to our bodies and can be consumed through dietary intake. However, it can also be converted in our bodies from the essential amino acid, tryptophan. For this conversion to occur, PLP must act as a coenzyme for a critical action that this relies on.

Hormone Functions

Hormones that are steroids, like testosterone and estrogen, have an effect on our body by first binding themselves to steroid hormone receptors. These are located in the nucleus of the cell. PLP also binds to steroid receptors, but this inhibits steroid hormones from attaching themselves as well — diminishing their effectiveness. For diseases that are affected by steroid hormones, like prostate and breast cancers, vitamin B6 may play some important role.

Forming of red blood cells
PLP acts as a coenzyme when synthesizing heme, a component of hemoglobin that contains iron. Hemoglobin is located inside red blood cells and is required by the cells to operate and transport oxygen throughout the body. Both PL, as well as PLP, are able to be binded with the molecule of hemoglobin found within the red blood cell to have an affect on its ability to store and release oxygen.

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