

Vitamins are a group of organic compounds which are essential for normal physiological functioning but which are not synthesised endogenously by the body and therefore have to be sequestered in small quantities from the diet. Taken together, these strands of evidence suggest that supplementation with the entire B group of vitamins is a more rational approach than selecting one, two or three compounds from this sub-group of vitamins. It will also marshal evidence from the largely equivocal human literature describing intervention with a small sub-set of B vitamins, and the more promising literature describing the effects of “multi-vitamin” treatments. The following review will therefore describe some of the closely inter-related cellular functions of the entire group of B vitamins in catabolic and anabolic metabolism examine evidence from human studies suggesting widespread sub-optimal consumption of a number of these vitamins in developed societies, and the related case for consumption of these vitamins well in excess of governmental minimum recommendations. Indeed, we have no clear idea of where the optimal level of consumption may lie. Similarly, whilst we have some knowledge of the minimum levels of each B vitamin required in order to prevent explicit deficiency related diseases, we have a poor understanding of the negative effects of levels of consumption that lie above the minimum, but under the optimal level of consumption for these vitamins. Possibly as a result of this, the many intervention studies that have involved administering just folic acid ± vitamins B 12 and/or B 6, have generated equivocal results. The multifarious inter-related roles of the remaining five B vitamins have been largely overlooked.
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As an example, the major human epidemiological and controlled trial research effort in this area has concentrated almost exclusively on that small sub-set of B vitamins (folate, vitamin B 12 and, to a lesser extent vitamin B 6) that play the most obvious roles in homocysteine metabolism.

Surprisingly, given their pivotal physiological significance, our understanding of the role of the B group of vitamins (thiamine (B 1), riboflavin (B 2), niacin (B 3), pantothenic acid (B 5), vitamin B 6, folate (B 9) and vitamin B 12) in health and brain function is limited in several respects. Furthermore, evidence from human research clearly shows both that a significant proportion of the populations of developed countries suffer from deficiencies or insufficiencies in one or more of this group of vitamins, and that, in the absence of an optimal diet, administration of the entire B-vitamin group, rather than a small sub-set, at doses greatly in excess of the current governmental recommendations, would be a rational approach for preserving brain health. This review describes the closely inter-related functions of the eight B-vitamins and marshals evidence suggesting that adequate levels of all members of this group of micronutrients are essential for optimal physiological and neurological functioning.

Scant regard has been paid to the other B vitamins. However, human epidemiological and controlled trial investigations, and the resultant scientific commentary, have focused almost exclusively on the small sub-set of vitamins (B 9/B 12/B 6) that are the most prominent (but not the exclusive) B-vitamins involved in homocysteine metabolism.

Their collective effects are particularly prevalent to numerous aspects of brain function, including energy production, DNA/RNA synthesis/repair, genomic and non-genomic methylation, and the synthesis of numerous neurochemicals and signaling molecules. The B-vitamins comprise a group of eight water soluble vitamins that perform essential, closely inter-related roles in cellular functioning, acting as co-enzymes in a vast array of catabolic and anabolic enzymatic reactions.
