Maternal Vitamin B-6 Intake and Pyridoxine Status of Korean Newborns at Parturition

Vitamin B-6 nutrition has been shown to be inadequate in many population groups including pregnant and lactating women, and in infants. Vitamin B-6 intake was measured in 98 pregnant mothers and a total of 172 cord blood samples of their and other new born infants were analyzed for erythrocyte alanine aminotransferase(EALAT) activities with or without the addition of pyridoxal-5-phosphate to assess vitamin B-6 status of the infants. The average daily vitamin B-6 intake of the pregnant mothers was 1.79mg$\pm$0.88(81.4% of the Recommended Dietary Allowances ; RDA) and vitamin B-6 to protein intake ration was 0.017mg vitamin B-6/g protein. Thirty-eight percent of the pregnant women consumed diets which provided less than the RDA for vitamin B-6 during pregnancy. Seventy-two percent of the dietary pyridoxine intake was provided by the plant food source whose bioavailability was reported to be lower when compared to that of the animal food. The average activity coefficient(AC) values of the cord blood EALAT was 1.41$\pm$0.11, and 32% of the blood samples had EALATAC values greater than 1.25, suggesting that vitamin B-6 status of the newborns might be less than adequate.