Vitamin B6 status of low-income adolescent and adult pregnant women and the condition of their infants at birth

The vitamin B6 status of 127 low-income pregnant adolescent and adult women was assessed at two stages of pregnancy and related to the condition of the infant at birth. The mean dietary intake of vitamin B6 for a subsample of 57 of the subjects at the initial prenatal clinic visit was 1.37 ± 1.02 mg (mean ± sd). The mean stimulation of erythrocyte alanine aminotransferase activity by pyridoxal 5′-phosphate was 34.8 ± 21.1% at the first clinic visit and 29.4 ± 14.5% for a subsample of 30 subjects at the 30th wk of pregnancy. Apgar scores of infants whose mothers had high erythrocyte alanine aminotransferase stimulation values (>25%) were significantly lower (p ≤ 0.05) than infants whose mothers had normal erythrocyte alanine aminotransferase stimulation values (≤25%). These data indicate a vitamin B6 deficiency at two stages of pregnancy in these low-income adolescent and adult women and lower Apgar scores in infants whose mothers were vitamin B6 deficient than those with adequate vitamin B6 status.