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Vitamin B6 deficiency and anemia in pregnancy

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 64, pages 221–223 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia in pregnancy. Pregnant women with anemia are, in general, exclusively treated with iron supplementation. We observed that several pregnant women with anemia who were nonresponsive to iron supplementation also had vitamin B6 deficiency, and that anemia in these cases improved with the administration of vitamin B6. Our prospective study in healthy pregnant women showed that blood levels of iron, ferritin and vitamin B6, in particular, fell to the lower limit of the nonpregnant reference range by the third trimester. We conclude that it is important to take into account the deficiency of vitamin B6 besides iron in the evaluation of anemia during pregnancy.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Hospital Organization (Japan).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Perinatology, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan

    M Hisano, H Sago, A Murashima & K Yamaguchi

  2. Department of Obstetrics, Perinatal Center, National Hospital Organization Fukushima Hospital, Fukushima, Japan

    R Suzuki

Authors
  1. M Hisano
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  2. R Suzuki
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  3. H Sago
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  4. A Murashima
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  5. K Yamaguchi
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Correspondence to M Hisano.

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Hisano, M., Suzuki, R., Sago, H. et al. Vitamin B6 deficiency and anemia in pregnancy. Eur J Clin Nutr 64, 221–223 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2009.125

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