Vitamin B6 supplementation in pregnant women with nausea and vomiting

Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine whether supplementation with vitamin B6 improves nausea and/or vomiting in pregnancy. MethodsThis experimental study was conducted with 60 pregnant women experiencing nausea and/or vomiting prior to the 12th gestational week. Of these women, 30 were treated daily with 10mg and the remaining 30 with 1.28mg of pyridoxine hydrochloride for 2weeks. The primary outcome was the Pregnancy-Unique Quantification of Emesis and Nausea (PUQE) score in each group at the end of treatment. ResultsThe women experiencing nausea and/or vomiting in pregnancy had significantly lower levels of circulating vitamin B6 (P=0.007) compared with those without this symptom. Vitamin B6 supplementation significantly increased plasma vitamin B6 concentration (P<0.05 in both groups). There were no significant differences in PUQE score or in plasma concentration levels of protein, dopamine, serotonin, unconjugated estriol, and ghrelin after supplementation between the 2 groups at baseline, but there was a significantly lesser decrease in PUQE score and a greater increase in vitamin B6 level and vitamin B6 concentration to plasma protein concentration ratios in group 1 than in group 2 after supplementation (P<0.05 for all). ConclusionAlthough the high-supplementation group had a greater decrease in PUQE score in comparison to the low-supplementation group, the difference is unlikely to affect the severity of symptoms.