Supraphysiological doses of vitamin B6 has been reported to suppress tumor growth and metastasis in rodents. To examine if its anticancer effect is due to suppression in angiogenesis, this study was conducted to investigate the antiangiogenic effect of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), pyridoxine, pyridoxal and pyridoxamine in an ex vivo serum-free matrix culture model using rat aortic ring. Rat aortic rings were incubated with PLP or pyridoxine (25 μmol/l to 5 mmol/l). Higher concentrations of PLP (2.5 and 5 mmol/l) and pyridoxine (5 mmol/l) caused complete inhibition of microvessel outgrowth. However, the addition of pyridoxine at 2.5 mmol/l did not show complete inhibition of angiogenesis. PLP inhibited microvessel outgrowth almost completely at a concentration of 500 μmol/l and showed antiangiogenic effect in a dose-dependent manner within the range of 25-500 μmol/l. At 250 μmol/l, pyridoxal was as effective as PLP, but pyridoxamine was inactive, implying that the aldehyde group relates to the antiangiogenic effect. These results indicated the antiangiogenic effect of PLP and pyridoxal, and suggested that the antitumor effect of high levels of vitamin B6 might be mediated through suppression of angiogenesis.

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