This study tested the impact of a vitamin B6-B12-deficient diet compared with control diet on acute colitis induced by dextran sodium sulfate (DSS). Unexpectedly, the B-vitamin-deficient diet ameliorated gross and histological measures of disease and proinflammatory gene expression in colon. Metabolomics indicated that these effects were associated with vitamin B6, rather than B12, deficiency and disrupted methionine metabolism. Although DSS is a model of injury-induced acute inflammation with limitations in extrapolation to inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), these novel findings suggest that impact of B6 deficiency should be explored other preclinical models of IBD or human IBD.
-P. Kay Lund