1. Introduction

Eight water-soluble vitamins known as B vitamins are crucial for maintaining healthy cell metabolism. In the past, the B vitamins were considered to be a single vitamin known simply as the B vitamin (most people thought it was somewhat similar to vitamin C or vitamin D) [1]. They are chemically separate vitamins that are often present in the same foods and serve a variety of purposes, according to research. Vitamin B complexes are dietary supplements that include all eight B vitamins [2].

The exact name of each vitamin indicates which B vitamin supplements are being taken individually (e.g., B1, B2, and B3), The B vitamins often operate in concert to provide the body with a multitude of health advantages [3]. The metabolism has been demonstrated to be supported and speeded up by B vitamins. Maintain toned muscles and healthy skin, and boost immune and nervous system performance. Improved red blood cell production helps to avoid anemia. Together, these factors also serve to battle the signs and causes of stress, depression, and cardiovascular disease [4].

Water soluble and found throughout the body, all B vitamins. Any extra excreted in the urine is daily replaced with them. A large number of different health issues may be brought on by vitamin B deficiency [5]. Important new research in this field is presented in this book.

Contrary to popular belief, oral vitamin B12, 1 mg daily, is used to treat the majority of vitamin B12 deficient patients worldwide.

There are at least six distinct ways that vitamin B3 (niacin) insufficiency may manifest, although they all overlap. The intake may be inadequate even when the food provides an adequate amount of niacin and there are no issues with absorption or storage [6]. This is because certain people may need unusually high levels of vitamin B-3, which a conventional diet cannot provide, due to hereditary factors. Up to one-third of genetic mutations cause the matching enzyme to have a decreased affinity for its own enzyme, which lowers the pace of the reaction [7].

Therefore, extremely large dosages of the matching enzyme may be employed to cure the roughly 50 hereditary illnesses of humans caused by these faulty enzymes. Vitamin B3 serves as a cofactor in many of the enzymes that are implicated in various hereditary diseases. These include increased risks for cancer and alcoholism brought on by poor aldehyde dehydrogenase binding, phenylketonuria II, and hyperphagia brought on by inadequate dihydropteridine reductase binding [8].

The HM74A and HM74B subtypes of niacin-responsive receptors were only recently identified. Niacin stimulates prostaglandin production via the high-affinity receptor HM74A. The HM74A protein is dramatically reduced in areas of the brain of schizophrenia patients, indicating a niacin-related deficiency that results in significantly increased vitamin B3 needs [9].

Niacin deficiency is most often brought on by diets with little to no vitamin B3 in them. For instance, pellagra is often detected in people who have consumed a lot of maize, a grain for which niacin is difficult to come by patients who have issues with absorption and storage are also at risk for vitamin B3 insufficiency. The body’s supply of this vitamin and certain antibiotics will be depleted by excessive eating of foods like sweets and carbs [10].

Niacin deficiency is often caused by addiction and may be remedied by taking large amounts of this vitamin. Niacin, for example, is needed as a cofactor for aldehyde dehydrogenase, one of the key enzymes involved, making vitamin B3 essential for the breakdown of alcohol. Niacin and nicotine have chemical similarities; hence, nicotine may occupy receptor sites. High dosages of vitamin B3 have undoubtedly assisted some individuals in kicking their nicotine addiction [11].

The excessive oxidative stress that results in unusually high metabolic demand for this vitamin may also lead to a niacin deficit. It seems that diseases like Parkinson’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis are caused by an excessive amount of dopamine being broken down, which produces neurotoxins like dopachrome [12].

This process may be speed up by vitamin B3, although the body often has low levels of the vitamin. Similar to this, individuals with schizophrenia create excessive amounts of adrenaline, as well as its hazardous metabolites, adrenochrome, and other chromium indoles. They, therefore, have niacin depletion, which is now recognized as the disease’s diagnostic sign [13]. With aging, the body’s capacity to absorb nutrients often decreases. As a consequence, niacin deficiency, among other vitamin inadequacies, is most prevalent among the elderly. These deficiency-related conditions react to high-dose niacin, including lipid imbalances, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and arthritis. The recommended daily therapeutic intervention varies from 10 mg in newly diagnosed instances of pellagra from 6 to 10 grams for cholesterol normalization, cardiovascular disease, and stroke, according to the literature and Dr. Abram Hoover’s experience with more than 5000 patients [14].

2. Health and folic acid

There is no evidence that folic acid is also important for the development of the central nervous system. Folic acid has long been recognized to cause a kind of anemia known as megaloblastica, but there is no evidence that it may cause problems early in pregnancy and at the time of conception [15].

The neural tube develops with birth abnormalities as a result. Inadequate amounts of folic acid have recently been linked to increased blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine (Hcy). Hcy is a well-known risk factor for conditions affecting the neurological and cardiovascular systems, as well as for dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporotic fractures, and problems during pregnancy [16].

Folic acid has also been linked to reducing the risk of a variety of cancers. Recent epidemiological studies, for instance, show a negative correlation between folate status and the frequency of colorectal adenomas and carcinomas, indicating that lowering this risk may require maintaining appropriate folate levels [17].

On the other side, a number of studies indicate that excessive intakes, often linked to folic acid supplements, may raise the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, particularly in those who consume moderate amounts of alcohol. Additionally, there is a chance that extensive folic acid fortification may conceal a vitamin B12 shortage, which might result in neurological impairment. Similar to folic acid insufficiency, vitamin B12 deficiency results in anemia and irreparable harm to the central and peripheral neurological systems [18].

However, over many generations, folate fortification may also have an impact on genetic selection for potentially deleterious genotypes and epileptic seizure management. There is a lot of interest in learning if dietary supplements and food products include folic acid, which is increasingly being considered on a global scale as an essential functional food element [19].

Folic acid fortification may be beneficial or damaging to health. Crohn’s disease (CD), which may affect any portion of the gastrointestinal system, and ulcerative colitis (UC), which can affect the colon, are the two primary manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which is a chronic relapsing–relapsing inflammatory disorder of uncertain cause. The cornerstone of therapy for the majority of IBD patients is medical care with aminosalicylates (5-ASA), steroids, and immunosuppressive or immunosuppressive drugs. Surgery is only performed on people who have serious illnesses that are resistant to medical treatment or who have problems [20].

In the development, management, and therapy of IBD, nutrition is crucial. Inflammatory bowel disease patients often experience malnutrition, particularly those with Crohn’s disease (CD). Patients with inflammatory bowel illness have been reported to have a variety of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Despite their pathogenic significance in clinical symptoms and the many consequences associated with IBD, nutritional disorders are often disregarded in the care of patients. There are several factors that contribute to malnutrition in IBD, including inadequate oral nutritional intake, malabsorption, and nutrient loss [21], excessive nutritional needs, iatrogenic justification for surgery or treatment. Members of the “B vitamin complex” include thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin, pyridoxine (vitamin B6), pantothenic acid, biotin, folic acid (vitamin B9), and vitamin B12. These are substances that dissolve in water and are crucial for the metabolic functions of living cells [22].

They function as coenzymes or as prosthetic groups attached to enzymes. When one of these vitamins is improperly ingested, the utilization of the other vitamins may be compromised. Folic acid and vitamin B12 deficiencies are often reported in IBD patients, and they are also linked to the anemia, thrombosis, and carcinogenesis that are associated with the disease [23].

Patients with IBD have also been shown to have low blood concentrations of other “vitamin B complex” members because of their deficiencies. By changing branched-chain carbonic acids into straight-chain branched carbonic acids, adenosylcobalamin-dependent CoA-carbonyl mutations accelerate the 1,2-rearrangement of carbonyl groups. Only two mutants of this enzyme family are now known, isobutyryl-CoA and methylmalonyl-CoA (MCM, EC 5.4.99.2). Both of these mutants have undergone substantial research [24].

All of the substances are significant water and soil contaminants; therefore, the novel cobalamin and CoA-carbonyl mutations play a hitherto unrecognized function in both natural and induced bioremediation processes. Consequently, the pathways that have not yet been connected to CoA-carbonyl mutation action. Additionally, it is probable that the enzyme structure and the fold that were used to predict the development of substrate specificity are related. Finally, the potential biological and kinetic effects of using a cobalamin-dependent enzyme to bend the routes are explored [25].

The water-soluble, catalytically active form of vitamin B6 is called pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP), and it functions as a cofactor for several crucial human enzymes. Unique to a range of reactions to amino acids are PLP-dependent enzymes. They have the capacity to catalyze (transport, decarboxylation, or substitution/deletion). Various reactions happen without an enzyme. However, the protein portion simultaneously directs the enzyme’s catalytic power toward a particular process. This specificity is not absolute, however. Physiologically significant side reactions that most PLP enzymes catalyze may also provide fascinating stereochemical and mechanical details about the structure of the enzyme’s active site [1].

Dental spirochetes include cytolysin, a PLP-dependent C-S lyase whose most significant interaction is the removal of, from L-cysteine to create pyruvate, ammonia, and H2S. The latter is most likely in charge of the catalytic enzyme’s hemolytic and hemeoxide-related action. One of the best examples of PLP-dependent enzymes’ very versatile catalysts is cystalysin. In reality, it has only recently been shown that cetalicin is present [26].

Additionally, it may catalyze the transition between L- and D-alanine with turn numbers estimated in minutes, as well as the cracking of both isoforms of alanine, desulfurization of sulfuric acid L-cysteine, and decarboxylation of L-aspartate and oxalacetate. The cofactor binding mode, substrate specificity, formation of intermediate reactions typical of most PLP enzymes, and involvement of some active site residues in primary and secondary catalytic reactions are just a few of the intriguing characteristics of cystalysin that have been revealed through extensive biochemical investigations [27].

3. High homocysteine levels

Plasma from patients with renal failure, hypothyroidism, and methyltetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphism as well as those with homocystinuria, a hereditary disorder with a recessive pattern, was examined. The most crucial cerebral impairment, osteoporosis, lens shift, and arterial and venous thrombosis are among clinical symptoms of elevated plasma homocysteine levels. About 50% of deaths in patients with chronic renal failure are caused by cardiovascular illnesses, which are the main source of morbidity and mortality in the general population. Hyperhomocysteinemia is decreased by vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and folic acid. Transformation of sulfur and the remethylation process [28].

Although vitamin B medications often fail to correct plasma homocysteine levels, their long-term benefits are helpful in lowering the life-threatening vascular dangers that patients with homocystinuria face.

Patients with chronic renal failure, particularly those with stage V chronic kidney disease, are found to have hyperhomocysteinemia. The outcomes of observational clinical investigations on the consequences of increased plasma homocysteine levels on cardiovascular disease in hemodialysis patients have varied. In fact, several studies have shown a relationship between hypohomocysteinemia and cardiovascular disease fatalities in addition to hyperhomocysteinemia. The strong correlation between homocysteine and inflammatory indicators of malnutrition may be the cause of these contradicting observations [29].

Malnutrition-atherosclerotic syndrome is a serious clinical disease that often affects dialysis patients, interfering with homocysteine levels. My colleagues and I recently noticed in a clinical study that dialysis patients who were receiving vitamin B treatment and had high protein catabolism and low homocysteine levels outlived the other three groupings by a substantial margin. Recent prospective clinical trials that looked at the effects of moderate hyperhomocysteinemia patients receiving vitamin B treatment to decrease homocysteine on cardiovascular events revealed no therapeutic benefits. Because some of the patients had normal homocysteine levels, the follow-up period may have been too little, and confounding variables were not taken into consideration, these findings may be deceptive [30].

The study discusses the interesting mystique surrounding homocysteine and highlights the most relevant information about the impact of vitamin B therapy on cardiovascular events.

4. Vitamin B12

Two important enzyme pathways the conversion of homocysteine to methionine and the conversion of methylmalonyl coenzyme A to succinyl coenzyme are affected physiologically by it. Elevated blood homocysteine and methylmalonic acid result from disruption of any of these processes brought on by vitamin B12 deficiency. When folic acid levels are low, homocysteine levels also increase. It has been proposed that serum homocysteine rather than serum vitamin B12 analysis is more sensitive to intracellular functional vitamin B12 insufficiency. As a result, in the so-called one-carbon cycle, homocysteine, vitamin B12, and folic acid are strongly tied to one another [31]. The suggested mechanism is connected to methylation processes involving the nervous system’s metabolism of homocysteine. The coenzyme that is required for its effective functioning is vitamin B12 methionine can only be produced when 5-methyletrahydrofolate donates its methyl group to tetrahydrofolate. On the other side, folate stimulates the remethylation of homocysteine, a cytotoxic molecule that contains sulfur, making it a cofactor in one-carbon metabolism [32].

Amino acids have the ability to cause DNA strand breaks, oxidative damage, and cell death. What or what appears to be consistent with the widespread belief that vitamin B12 and folic acid, either directly through the maintenance of two functions, DNA synthesis and methylation reactions, or indirectly, as a result of their deficiency, which results in methylation reactions mediated by SAM that are inhibited by its product SAH, and from through the related toxic effects of homocysteine causing direct damage to the vascular endothelium and inhibition of N-methyl-D [33].

This vitamin functions in a rising number of organs and bodily systems, the list of which is constantly expanding. The peripheral and central neurological systems, bone marrow, skin, mucous membranes, bones, and blood vessels are all impacted, in addition to children’s typical growth. In addition to a sophisticated chemical structure, vitamin B12 (cobalamin) also includes the trace element cobalt, which is vital for human health. Vitamin B12 has significant immunological and neurotrophic effects in addition to playing a significant role in DNA synthesis. The human body’s many systems must remain in balance. Even under the worst illness stressors, the individual is the ideal illustration of a system that always strives to attain optimum control. Consider that everything is standard and replaceable (as needed) if vitamin B12 is one of these things, why is it important, it is conceivable that therapy with vitamin B12 may rectify abnormalities brought on by other physiologically active chemicals even when the blood cobalamin level is normal [34]. This has been shown to be effective in treating recurrent aphthous stomatitis with vitamin B12 (regardless of blood level!) in the authors’ research. This phenomenon is referred to as the “master switch” effect. Deficiency in vitamin B12 is a widespread issue that affects the entire population. Clinically significant is the early identification of vitamin B12 insufficiency, and there is evidence that deficiency occurs more often than anticipated. Patients who are unable to absorb vitamin B12 from food and people with dietary habits that exclude animal foods are both at risk for vitamin B12 insufficiency [35]. In addition, owing to the association between meat, cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease, there is a widespread inclination to steer clear of foods rich in vitamin B12, such as beef. Additionally, there is a propensity toward vegetarianism due to ideological reasons, particularly among the younger population. Two key causes of the low consumption of animal products, particularly red meat, are changes in lifestyle among population groups with high socioeconomic status and the prevalence of poverty. As a result, the amount of vitamin B12 in the general population is declining, which has an impact on the pathology caused by vitamin B12 deficiencies (e.g., neurological and hematological disorders). If more studies corroborate the link between homocysteine and vitamin B12, the authors may also report an increase in cardiovascular disease. Instead of these changes, major health issues should be avoided [36].

5. Vitamin B6

This vitamin is made up of a number of pyridoxal-containing substances, including pyridoxol, pyridoxamine, pyridoxaldehyde, and its derivatives. Structure the pyridoxine transporter at the sinusoidal pole has a determining hepatocyte absorption of pyridoxal, the catalytically active form of vitamin B6. Because pyridoxal may be transported to cells by an organ transport system when pyridoxine transporters in hepatocytes can specifically detect and bind to the structure. Thus, pyridoxine may be used as a liver-targeting group and added to big molecules and low molecular weight drugs to be used as contrast in MRI agents and anticancer comparisons [37]. The study of medication transport to the liver advances. The insertion of pyridoxine into these compounds has been shown to boost their liver absorption, and the molecules that include pyridoxine groups have liver-targeting characteristics.

6. Conclusions

B vitamins are crucial for metabolism. They are chemically unique vitamins with a variety of uses that are often present in the same meals.

The B vitamins often operate in concert to provide the body with a multitude of health advantages. The metabolism has been demonstrated to be supported and speeded up by vitamin B. Maintain toned muscles and healthy skin. Boost immune and nervous system performance. Improved red blood cell development and division help to avoid anemia. Together, these factors also assist to battle the signs and causes of stress, depression, and cardiovascular disease.

Water soluble and found throughout the body, all B vitamins. Any excess that is expelled in the urine daily replenishes them, and a vitamin B shortage may result in a wide range of health issues.

Mariana Man

Chapters authored

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