In what major way does alcohol intake affect vitamin B6 metabolism?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

To tackle the question, let's examine how alcohol intake interacts with vitamin B6 metabolism from multiple angles.
Option 1: It increases faecal excretion of the vitamin. While some nutrients can have altered excretion with certain conditions, the hallmark of alcohol’s impact on B6 status is not primarily increasing fecal loss. This would be a relatively indirect or secondary route and is not the major mechanism described in the literature.
Option 2: It dislodges the PLP coenzyme from its enzyme. This is a key mechanistic explanation: ethanol can disrupt the binding of pyridoxal phosphate (PLP), the active coenzyme form of vitamin B6, to apoenzymes. When PLP is displaced, enzyme activity falls, impairing PLP-dependent reactions, which is a central cause of functional B6 deficiency in chronic alcohol users. This option aligns with established biochemical understanding of how alcohol perturbs PLP-dependent processes.
Option 3: It increases urinary excretion of B6. While ethanol may influence metabolism, a primary and well-supported effect is not a dramatic increase in renal excretion of vitamin B6 itself. The more consequential issue is the loss of PLP from enzyme complexes rather than bulk urinary loss.
Option 4: It interferes with synthesis of the PLP coenzyme. PLP is not synthesized anew in a straightforward sense; rather, B6 status depends on phosphorylation, dephosphorylation, and binding cycles with enzymes. Alcohol primarily disrupts binding and availability of PLP rather than inhibiting a de novo synthesis step of PLP itself. This makes this option less accurate as the major effect.
Option 5: It reduces acetaldehyde formation. This statement is not directly related to how alcohol affects vitamin B6 metabolism. Alcohol’s influence on PLP status is not typically described as a reduction in acetaldehyde formation; in fact, acetaldehyde is a metabolite produced during ethanol metabolism, not something reduced by B6 disruption per se. This option misses the core interaction between alcohol and PLP binding.
Overall, among the listed choices, the mechanism most consistent with alcohol-induced perturbation of vitamin B6 metabolism is the displacement of the PLP coenzyme from its enzyme, because the active cofactor’s availability directly governs the function of numerous PLP-dependent enzymes and is the central route by which alcohol impairs B6-related metabolism.

FOOD20003_2025_SM1 Water-soluble Vitamins

In what major way does alcohol intake affect vitamin B6 metabolism?

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