The effect of vitamin B6 deficiency on food intake, growth, and renal function in chronically azotemic rats.

Chronically uremic patients appear to have an increased nutritional requirement for vitamin B6, and vitamin B6 deficiency occurs frequently when such individuals do not receive supplements of this vitamin. Since manifestations of vitamin B6 deficiency in renal failure are not well defined, this study examined two aspects of the chronic renal failure syndrome which might be influenced by vitamin B6: impaired growth and progressive loss of renal function. We examined food intake, weight gain, the food efficiency ratio, degree of azotemia, and renal function in chronically azotemic rats pair-fed for 6 weeks either a vitamin B6-deficient diet or a diet containing a surfeit of vitamin B6. In the azotemic vitamin B6-deficient rats, as compared to the azotemic B6-replete rats, there was evidence of reduced appetite, decreased weight gain, a lower food efficiency ratio, increased azotemia, and a reduced glomerular filtration rate as estimated from the urea clearance or the mean of the urea and creatinine clearances. These findings suggest that vitamin B6 deficiency may contribute to decreased food intake, reduced growth, and lower renal function in animals with chronic renal insufficiency.