Objective:

Pyridoxine is 1 of 8 B vitamins that assist in a variety of essential functions including immune functions. The purpose of this study was to assess the risk factors associated with low pyridoxine levels in solid organ transplantation recipients.

Design:

The study cohort was divided into 2 groups: (a) patients with normal pyridoxine levels or (b) patients with low pyridoxine levels. Dietary evaluation and clinical characteristics of all patients, rejection episodes, and immunosuppression were collected. Simple descriptive statistics were used to analyze the overall cohort.

Results:

Of the 48 patients, 29 (60%) in the study cohort were identified to have low pyridoxine levels. The mean interval between transplantation and pyridoxine level check was 910 days (standard deviation [SD] 456). The mean weight at the time of dietary consultation was 80 kg (SD 20.7). More patients in the deficient group received thymoglobulin for rejection treatment (56% vs 0%; P = .01) and were thymoglobulin recipients (78% vs 10%; odds ratio [OR] = 31.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.35-422.30; P < .01). A strong correlation was identified between thymoglobulin treatment for induction and a low level of pyridoxine (correlation coefficient R = 0.6, P = .004) and between thymoglobulin treatment for rejection and a low pyridoxine level (correlation coefficient R = 0.5, P = .05). Based on multivariate logistic regression analysis, only thymoglobulin treatment (induction or rejection treatment) was significantly associated with low pyridoxine levels (OR = 19.5, 95% CI, 1.01-375.24; P < .05).

Conclusions:

Low levels of pyridoxine appear to be relatively common, and thymoglobulin treatments are associated with low pyridoxine levels. Prospective studies are needed to confirm and valuate the significance of these findings.