Studies on Chronic Vitamin B6 Deficiency in the Rat II. Changes in Tissue Metabolism

Abstract

Tissue changes in the chronic vitamin B₆-deficient rat were studied. There was an increase in the wet weight of the adrenal, ventricular mass, liver and kidney of the deficient animal when compared to the normal or inanition control. When the antivitamin, desoxypyridoxine, was added to the diet of all rats, even if for a short time, the same tendency to hypertrophy was noted. Microbiological assay for “vitamin B₆” content was performed on portions of liver and kidney. The B₆ content of these tissues was lower in the deficient than in the control animals. Oxygen consumption studies by the Warburg technique revealed a 30% decrease by broken-cell preparations of hepatic tissue from the deficient animals and a 20% decrease by renal tissue preparations. The addition of pyridoxal restored these values to approximately normal. The addition of certain amino acids and amines as substrates resulted in similar rates of oxidation for preparations from both the deficient and the control animals. The addition of pyridoxylamino acid or pyridoxylamine complexes gave lower rates of oxidation when added to the tissue preparations than did mixtures of pyridoxal and the amino acid or amine. The possible metabolic role of the complexes are discussed.