The influence of vitamin B6 deficiency on somatosensory stimulus conduction in the rat.

Whilst 22 male Wistar rats were fed on a pyridoxine-deficient diet for 26 weeks, 22 controls received a normal diet. The vitamin B6 deficient animals lost no weight but they developed symptoms of rat pellagra. The sensory nerve conduction velocity, the compound radicular, spinal and brain stem responses and the SEP were derived following tail and hind paw stimulation. The examination was repeated at 6 week intervals. A disturbed central stimulus conduction was indicated by the delayed SEP and intracerebral conduction times. An impairment of neurotransmitter metabolism may be of importance in this case. Considering related data the results implicate the importance of vitamin B6 substitution in the case of CNS disturbances due to malnutrition, e.g., chronic alcoholism. The nerve conduction velocity decreases subsequently. A disturbance of myelin function is indicated in adult rats under conditions of pyridoxine deficiency.