Improvement of oral glucose tolerance in gestational diabetes by pyridoxine.

Fourteen pregnant women were shown by the oral glucose tolerance test to have gestational diabetes. In 13 an increased urinary xanthurenic-acid excretion after an oral load of L-tryptophan indicated a relative pyridoxine deficiency. All patients were treated with vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) 100 mg/day for 14 days by mouth, after which the pyridoxine deficiency disappeared and the oral glucose tolerance improved considerably. Only two patients then had sufficiently impaired glucose tolerance to justify the diagnosis of gestational diabetes; Our results substantiated our hypothesis that increased xanthurenic-acid synthesis during pregnancy may cause gestational diabetes. Treatment with vitamin B6 makes the production of xanthurenic-acid normal by restoring tryptophan metabolism and improves the oral glucose tolerance in patients with gestational diabetes.