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October 2015 - Pyridoxin (Vitamin B6)

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B-vitamins are a group of eight water soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism. They cannot be produced by the body itself, but can be produced by bacteria, fungi and plants. In the horse, microorganisms in the gut, mainly the hind gut, are capable of synthesizing B-vitamins. Nutrient requirements have so far only been well established for thiamin (B1) and riboflavin (B2). The requirements included in PC-Horse for vitamin B6 must therefore be regarded as guidelines.

vitamin b6

Function
Vitamin B6 is extremely performs a wide variety of functions in the body. It is involved in many enzyme reactions, most of which are concerned with protein, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. It is also a cofactor in the biosynthesis of the neurotransmitters adrenaline and noradrenaline.

Dietary sources
Vitamin B6 encompasses several chemical forms; pyridoxine, pyridoxal and pyridoxamine. They all have equal vitamin activity on a molar basis. The synthetic form of pyridoxine used for dietary supplementation is most often pyridoxine hydrochloride. Vitamin B6 is found in most feeds and the vitamin is also, as noted, produced by microbes in the intestines. Compound feeds are typically supplemented with 2-6 mg vitamin B6 per kg dry matter.

Requirements
Based on available literature and requirements given for other domestic animals, PC-Horse provides the following guidelines for vitamin B6 in horse rations:

Maintenance 0.020 mg/kg body weight
Light exercise 0.020 mg/kg body weight
Moderate exercise 0.022 mg/kg body weight
Heavy exercise 0.026 mg/kg body weight
Very heavy exercise 0.026 mg/kg body weight
Pregnant mares 0.020 mg/kg body weight
Lactating mares 0.026 mg/kg body weight
Growing horses 0.025 mg/kg body weight

Deficiency
Deficiency symptoms have not been reported in horses.

Toxicity
As vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin, excess intake will be excreted in the urine. Vitamin B6 toxicity in horses has never been reported.

PC-Horse
PC-Horse calculates guidelines for Vitamin B6 intake individually for each horse. Where values could be obtained, B6 is included in the feed tables. When composing rations using PC-Horse, you will always be able to control that the intake of vitamin B6 is at least sufficient to comply with the proposed guidelines.


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This article was originally written by Dr. Day Austbø.
Copyright: PC-Horse International - Norway 2015
Feel free to use and publish the material. Please indicate the source and author.