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Amino Acid Deficiency (Essential)

phWhat Are Essential Amino Acids?

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]mino acids are small molecules, or subunits, that link together in various combinations to make up big, complicated proteins. As such, amino acids are commonly referred to as “the building blocks” of proteins.

Q: How many amino acids are used in our body?

A: There are 20 amino acids that are used within our body to synthesize or produce our unique human proteins.  Of these amino acids,  9 are termed essential, meaning our bodies require them to live but cannot make them. Therefore, the essential amino acids must come from the food we eat, whether from plant or animal sources.

The essential amino acids include histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.

What Is Deficiency Of Essential Amino Acids In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) Deficiency

Lots of Pyridoxine In This Pie...Chicken, Cheese,Spinach, Tomato
Lots of Pyridoxine In This Pie…Chicken, Cheese,Spinach, Tomato

What Is Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)?

[dropcap]P[/dropcap]yridoxine is an essential vitamin that is required for the health of nerves, bones, blood, arteries, blood sugar, the immune system and metabolism of proteins.

Two important functions of pyridoxine involve coenzymes that are involved in regulating the metabolism of proteins like methionine and tryptophan and their intermediate amino acid building blocks.

In total, the coenzymic form of vitamin B-6, pyridoxal phosphate (PLP), serves as a coenzyme for over 140 enzymes in human metabolism.1  Functions are more fully described below.

Magnesium is required for pyridoxine to actually attach to enzymes dependent on it.

Because pyridoxine is excreted from the body by the kidneys, urinary excretion of it cannot be detected when vitamin intake is below the required levels. On the other hand, when intake exceeds saturation in the body, the vitamin and/or its metabolites are actively excreted into urine to prevent excessive toxicity of the vitamins.2

Smoking blocks use of pyridoxine.

What Is Pyridoxine Deficiency In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:
  1. Gregory JF 3rd1, Park Y, Lamers Y, Bandyopadhyay N, Chi YY, Lee K, Kim S, da Silva V, Hove N, Ranka S, Kahveci T, Muller KE, Stevens RD, Newgard CB, Stacpoole PW, Jones DP. Metabolomic analysis reveals extended metabolic consequences of marginal vitamin B-6 deficiency in healthy human subjects. PLoS One. 2013 Jun 11;8(6):e63544. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063544. [↩]
  2. Shibata K, Hirose J, Fukuwatari T. Relationship Between Urinary Concentrations of Nine Water-soluble Vitamins and their Vitamin Intakes in Japanese Adult Males. Nutr Metab Insights. 2014 Aug 5;7:61-75. doi: 10.4137/NMI.S17245. [↩]