Effect of supplementation with water-soluble vitamins on erythrocyte alanine aminotransferase activity of healthy adolescents

The erythrocyte alanine aminotransferase (E-ALAT) activity with and without in vitro stimulation by pyridoxal phosphate of 60 healthy adolescents was measured before and after 6 weeks of supplementation with different water-soluble vitamins. The subjects who were divided into six groups received placebo (lactose tablets), pyridoxine, pyridoxine + ascorbic acid, pyridoxine + iron, pyridoxine + riboflavin and multivitamin supplements, respectively. Presupplementation E-ALAT activity increased significantly (p less than 0.05) for all supplemented subjects after 6 weeks. Deficient subjects (E-ALAT) index less than 1.16) however failed to respond to a combination of pyridoxine + ascorbic acid or multivitamins. It is suggested that pyridoxine in multivitamin preparations must exceed 1 mg to produce any useful improvement in vitamin B6 status of adolescents on suboptimal vitamin B6 intakes.