Effect of ethanol and vitamin B6 deficiency on pyridoxal 5-phosphate levels and fetal growth in rat.

The effects of chronic ethanol consumption and dietary vitamin B6 levels on tissue pyridoxal 5-phosphate (PLP) contents and rat fetal development were investigated. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were given 35% ethanol-calorie liquid diet with either adequate B6 (1.7 mg/liter) or deficient B6 (0.17 mg/liter), ad libitum, from gestation days 7 to 21. Control groups (adequate control and deficient control) were pair-fed with isocaloric sucrose substituted for ethanol. Rats were killed on gestation day 21. Ethanol groups had smaller fetuses than control groups, regardless of their dietary B6 levels. However, in B6 deficiency, ethanol affected fetal weight more severely than in B6 adequate state. Tissue PLP levels were determined by radioenzymatic method. In B6 deficiency, ethanol feeding reduced maternal liver PLP by 22%. PLP in other tissues were not affected by ethanol. These results confirmed that chronic alcohol consumption affected fetal growth and also provided evidence that B6 deficiency exacerbated ethanol effect.