Background and study aim: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) include a spectrum of immune-mediated chronic disorders. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of vitamin B6 supplementation on laboratory markers and clinical outcomes in patients with ulcerative colitis.
Patients and methods: In this double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial ulcerative colitis patients were randomly divided into two groups, intervention (usual treatment plus vitamin B6 (40 mg / day)) and placebo group (usual treatment plus placebo). The serum levels of inflammatory markers measured and compared at the beginning and the end of intervention.
Results: Overall forty patients were randomly selected to participate in this trial. Age range of participants was between 25-65 years and 3.43% of patients (13 cases) were males. Baseline characteristics of two groups were equal. The mean serum level of homocysteine after intervention in placebo and vitamin B6 groups were 9.05±3.45 and 16.31±20.52 respectively (P= 0.205). There were no significant differences between serum levels of homocysteine, CRP (P=0.328), ESR (P=0.329), calprotectin (P=0.683) and stool frequency after 6 months intervention in univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis stool frequency was significantly greater in vitamin B6 group in comparison with placebo group (P = 0.01).
Conclusion: We couldn't find any significant effect of vitamin B6 supplementation on duration and severity of ulcerative colitis and even stool frequency in vitamin B6 group increased.