Vitamin B₆ in treating mood and related disorders

Depression is one of the frequent and disabling conditions in the world. About 10% of the population suffers from a kind of clinical depression. Sometimes it is difficult to differ whether it is a primary problem, but during the last decades more have been known about the combinations of depressive states and deficiency of at least one nutrient. Mood disorders are associated with heterogeneous dysregulation of the biogenic amines. Norepinephrine and serotonin have an important role in etiology of depression. The cholinergic, dopaminergic, and GABA system have also been associated with depression. One of the possible explanations for the aetiology of depression, related to serotonin theory, is that vitamin B6 which is a key enzyme involved in the synthesis of different neurotransmitters and its deficiency may lead to appearance of depression.