Consumption of vitamin B(6) reduces fecal ratio of lithocholic acid to deoxycholic acid, a risk factor for colon cancer, in rats fed a high-fat diet.

To examine the effect of supplemental dietary vitamin B(6) on the colonic luminal environment, growing male rats were fed a high-fat diet containing 1, 7, or 35 mg pyridoxine HCl/kg diet for 6 wk. Food intake and growth were unaffected by the dietary treatment. Supplemental dietary vitamin B(6) significantly reduced the production of a fecal secondary bile acid, lithocholic acid (the most toxic secondary bile acid and a risk factor for colon cancer), and markedly reduced the ratio of lithocholic acid to deoxycholic acid (a less toxic secondary bile acid) in feces (p<0.05). Increasing dietary vitamin B(6) increased fecal mucin levels (a marker of intestinal barrier function) in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05) but did not affect fecal immunoglobulin A levels (an index of intestinal immune function). Cecal levels of organic acids were not significantly affected by supplemental dietary vitamin B(6). These results suggest the possibility that dietary vitamin B(6) affects the colonic luminal environment by altering the production of secondary bile acids and mucins.