Biochemical assessment of vitamin B6 nutritional status in pregnant women with orolingual manifestations.

Two groups of pregnant women belonging to a low socioeconomic group, one with oral lesions and the other without lesions, were studied in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy for vitamin B6 nutritional status. Both the groups showed evidence of abnormal tryptophan metabolism, and in pregnant women with clinical signs the postload xanthurenic acid excretion in urine was higher than in the other group, suggesting a severe deficiency of vitamin B6. Treatment with vitamin B6 cured the oral lesions and also corrected the abnormalities in tryptophan metabolism. Excretion of 4-pyridoxic acid was low in both the groups and more so in women with oral lesions. Administration of tryptophan load significantly elevated the excretion of 4-pyridoxic acid in urine. These results indicated that pregnant women belonging to a low socioeconomic group were, in general, deficient in vitamin B6. In pregnant women with oral lesions the deficiency of vitamin B6 was more severe than in those pregnant women without oral lesions. Whether the severity of vitamin B6 deficiency would precipitate clinical signs like oral lesions is not yet known.