Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners logoLink to The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
. 1989 Sep;39(326):364–368.

Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) and the premenstrual syndrome: a randomized crossover trial.

H Doll 1, S Brown 1, A Thurston 1, M Vessey 1
PMCID: PMC1711872  PMID: 2558186

Abstract

A randomized double-blind crossover trial was conducted to study the effects of pyridoxine (vitamin B6) at a dose of 50 mg per day on symptoms characteristic of the premenstrual syndrome. Sixty three women aged 18-49 years, identified by means of a general practice based survey of menstrual patterns in the community, entered the trial. All of the women had noticed moderate to severe premenstrual symptoms during the previous year. The women kept a daily menstrual diary which graded the severity of nine individual symptoms from zero to three. After completing a diary for an initial month the women were randomized to receive either drug or placebo for three months, after which the treatments were crossed over for a further three months. Thirty two women completed the full seven months of the study. In these women a significant beneficial effect (P less than 0.05) of pyridoxine was observed on emotional type symptoms (depression, irritability and tiredness). No significant effect was observed on premenstrual symptoms of any other type.

Full text

PDF
364

Images in this article

367Figure 1.
on p.367

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Abplanalp J. M. Premenstrual syndrome: a selective review. Women Health. 1983 Summer-Fall;8(2-3):107–123. doi: 10.1300/J013v08n02_06. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Adams P. W., Rose D. P., Folkard J., Wynn V., Seed M., Strong R. Effect of pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B 6 ) upon depression associated with oral contraception. Lancet. 1973 Apr 28;1(7809):899–904. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Baumblatt M. J., Winston F. Pyridoxine and the pill. Lancet. 1970 Apr 18;1(7651):832–833. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(70)92426-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brown R. R., Rose D. P., Price J. M., Wolf H. Tryptophan metabolism as affected by anovulatory agents. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1969 Sep 30;166(1):44–56. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1969.tb46372.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brown S., Vessey M., Stratton I. The influence of method of contraception and cigarette smoking on menstrual patterns. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1988 Sep;95(9):905–910. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1988.tb06578.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chakmakjian Z. H. A critical assessment of therapy for the premenstrual tension syndrome. J Reprod Med. 1983 Aug;28(8):532–538. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Clare A. W. Premenstrual syndrome. Br J Psychiatry. 1981 Jan;138:82–83. doi: 10.1192/bjp.138.1.82. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Coppen A., Brooksbank B. W., Peet M. Tryptophan concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid of depressive patients. Lancet. 1972 Jun 24;1(7765):1393–1393. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(72)91123-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dalton K., Dalton M. J. Characteristics of pyridoxine overdose neuropathy syndrome. Acta Neurol Scand. 1987 Jul;76(1):8–11. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1987.tb03536.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hagen I., Nesheim B. I., Tuntland T. No effect of vitamin B-6 against premenstrual tension. A controlled clinical study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1985;64(8):667–670. doi: 10.3109/00016348509158211. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hills M., Armitage P. The two-period cross-over clinical trial. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1979 Jul;8(1):7–20. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1979.tb05903.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kendall K. E., Schnurr P. P. The effects of vitamin B6 supplementation on premenstrual symptoms. Obstet Gynecol. 1987 Aug;70(2):145–149. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Lapin I. P., Oxenkrug G. F. Intensification of the central serotoninergic processes as a possible determinant of the thymoleptic effect. Lancet. 1969 Jan 18;1(7586):132–136. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(69)91140-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Mattes J. A., Martin D. Pyridoxine in premenstrual depression. Hum Nutr Appl Nutr. 1982 Apr;36(2):131–133. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. O'Brien P. M. The premenstrual syndrome. A review. J Reprod Med. 1985 Feb;30(2):113–126. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Parry G. J., Bredesen D. E. Sensory neuropathy with low-dose pyridoxine. Neurology. 1985 Oct;35(10):1466–1468. doi: 10.1212/wnl.35.10.1466. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Rose D. P., Strong R., Adams P. W., Harding P. E. Experimental vitamin B 6 deficiency and the effect of oestrogen-containing oral contraceptives on tryptophan metabolism and vitamin B 6 requirements. Clin Sci. 1972 Apr;42(4):465–477. doi: 10.1042/cs0420465. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Schaumburg H., Kaplan J., Windebank A., Vick N., Rasmus S., Pleasure D., Brown M. J. Sensory neuropathy from pyridoxine abuse. A new megavitamin syndrome. N Engl J Med. 1983 Aug 25;309(8):445–448. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198308253090801. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Stokes J., Mendels J. Pyridoxine and premenstrual tension. Lancet. 1972 May 27;1(7761):1177–1178. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(72)91399-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Winston F. Oral contraceptives and depression. Lancet. 1969 Jun 14;1(7607):1209–1209. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(69)92185-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners are provided here courtesy of Royal College of General Practitioners

RESOURCES