Editing Vitamin B6 (section)

==History==
{{Further|Vitamin#History}}
An overview of the history was published in 2012.<ref name=Rosenberg2012/> In 1934, the Hungarian physician [[Paul Gyorgy|Paul György]] discovered a substance that was able to cure a skin disease in rats (dermatitis acrodynia). He named this substance vitamin B<sub>6</sub>, as numbering of the B vitamins was chronological, and [[pantothenic acid]] had been assigned vitamin B<sub>5</sub> in 1931.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/133498a0 |title=Vitamin B2 and the Pellagra-like Dermatitis in Rats |journal=Nature |volume=133 |issue=3361 |pages=498–9 |year=1934 |last1=György |first1=Paul |bibcode=1934Natur.133..498G |s2cid=4118476 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = György P, Eckardt RE | title = Further investigations on vitamin B(6) and related factors of the vitamin B(2) complex in rats. Parts I and II | journal = The Biochemical Journal | volume = 34 | issue = 8–9 | pages = 1143–54 | date = September 1940 | pmid = 16747297 | pmc = 1265394 | doi = 10.1042/bj0341143 }}</ref> In 1938, [[Richard Kuhn]] was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] for his work on carotenoids and vitamins, specifically B<sub>2</sub> and B<sub>6</sub>.<ref name="Kuhn">{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1938/index.html|title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1938|access-date=July 5, 2018|website=Nobelprize.org|archive-date=July 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708045113/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1938/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Also in 1938, Samuel Lepkovsky isolated vitamin B<sub>6</sub> from rice bran.<ref name=Rosenberg2012>{{cite journal |vauthors=Rosenberg IH |title=A history of the isolation and identification of vitamin B(6) |journal=Ann Nutr Metab |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=236–8 |date=2012 |pmid=23183295 |doi=10.1159/000343113 |s2cid=37156675 |url=}}</ref> A year later, Stanton A. Harris and [[Karl August Folkers]] determined the structure of pyridoxine and reported success in [[chemical synthesis]],<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Harris SA, Folkers K |title=Synthetic vitamin B6 |journal=Science |volume=89 |issue=2311 |page=347 |date=April 1939 |pmid=17788439 |doi=10.1126/science.89.2311.347 |bibcode=1939Sci....89..347H |url=}}</ref> and then in 1942 [[Esmond Emerson Snell]] developed a microbiological growth [[assay]] that led to the characterization of pyridoxamine, the aminated product of pyridoxine, and pyridoxal, the [[formyl]] derivative of pyridoxine.<ref name=Rosenberg2012/> Further studies showed that pyridoxal, pyridoxamine, and pyridoxine have largely equal activity in animals and owe their vitamin activity to the ability of the organism to convert them into the enzymatically active form pyridoxal-5-phosphate.<ref name=Rosenberg2012 />

Following a recommendation of [[International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry|IUPAC]]-IUB in 1973,<ref>{{cite journal|date=December 17, 1973|title=IUPAC-IUB commission on biochemical nomenclature (CBN). Nomenclature for vitamins B-6 and related compounds. Recommendations 1973|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4781383/|journal=European Journal of Biochemistry|volume=40|issue=2|pages=325–327|issn=0014-2956|pmid=4781383|access-date=August 30, 2021|archive-date=June 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602215236/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4781383/|url-status=live}}</ref> vitamin B<sub>6</sub> is the official name for all 2-methyl,3-hydroxy,5-hydroxymethylpyridine derivatives exhibiting the biological activity of pyridoxine.<ref>{{cite journal|date=2016|title=Dietary Reference Values for vitamin B6|journal=EFSA Journal|language=en|volume=14|issue=6|pages=e04485|doi=10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4485|issn=1831-4732|doi-access=free|pmc=11847984 |pmid=40007837 | vauthors = Efsa Panel On Dietetic Products NA }}</ref> Because these related compounds have the same effect, the word "pyridoxine" should not be used as a synonym for vitamin B<sub>6</sub>.