Vitamin Reduces Inflammatory Mediators in Rheumatoid Arthritis

By CP Staff

A recently published study investigated the effect of vitamin B6 supplementation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the synovial lining of the joints. The Arthritis Foundation reports that 1.3 million Americans suffer from RA. The onset of this disease is usually in middle age, and it affects women 2.5-times as often as men. RA usually presents with symmetric joint pain and swelling, often affecting the small joints such as the hands, wrists and feet.

In this new study, researchers supplemented RA patients with 5 mg per day of folic acid plus 100 mg per day of pyridoxal-5-phosphate (P5P—the active form of vitamin B6) or 5 mg per day of folic acid alone to serve as the control group. The subjects were evaluated with blood tests for inflammatory and immune responses at the beginning of the study and again after 12 weeks of supplementation. The researchers tested for levels of plasma pyridoxal-5-phosphate, serum folate, inflammatory markers such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6) plus tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a). The researchers also measured immune system responses including the number of white blood cells, the total number of lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell that plays a role in RA) and specific types of lymphocytes such as T-lymphocytes (CD3), B-lymphocytes (CD19), T-helper lymphocytes (CD4) and T-suppressor lymphocytes (CD8).

The results of the study showed that in the group supplemented with vitamin B6, the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-a were significantly reduced after 12 weeks of supplementation. This study also showed that decreased levels of plasma IL-6 were associated with increased plasma P5P levels. No immune responses were noted, except for the percentage of total lymphocytes was altered in the group receiving vitamin B6.

The study authors concluded, “A large dose of vitamin B6 supplementation (100 mg/day) suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokines (that is, IL-6 and TNF-a) in patients with RA.”

Reference:

Huang SC, Wei JCC, Wu DJ, Huang YC. Vitamin B6 supplementation improves pro-inflammatory responses in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2010 Jun 23. Published Online Ahead of Print.

Pyridoxal-5-phosphate (P5P) and Active MTHF, the naturally occurring, biologically active form of folate that is nearly 7 times more bioavailable than ordinary folic acid, are available here.