Thank you for the feedback. It looks like either product meets the criteria and are very similar with the price being a wash. I have used Solgar products in the past, but am not familiar with the Now brand. Based on your recommendation, Now Foods quality can be trusted. They also had a U.S. FDA dietary supplement general cGMP inspection in January, 2012 with no observations. See the letter at iherb: /i/info/pic/now_gmp.pdf.


Solgar, P-5-P, 50 mg, 100 Tablets @ $.16/tablet
UPC Code: 033984023086

P-5-P 50 mg - Specially Coated A Coenzyme Derived Form of B6 Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate (P-5-P) is the coenzyme form of vitamin B6. Solgar's P-5-P Tablets are specially coated for protection against degradation from stomach acids.

Other Ingredients
Dicalcium phosphate, methacrylic acid, vegetable cellulose, vegetable magnesium stearate, riboflavin, titanium dioxide, glyceryl triacetate, vegetable glycerin.

FREE OF: Gluten, Wheat, Dairy, Soy, Yeast, Sugar, Sodium, Artificial Flavor, Sweetener and Preservatives.


Now Foods, P-5-P, 50 mg, 60 Tablets @ $.17/tablet
UPC Code: 733739004604

50 mg Coenzyme P-5-P Enteric Coated with Magnesium and B2 Cofactors

Contains
Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2) 17 mg
Vitamin B-6 (from 50 mg Coenzyme Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate) 33 mg
Calcium (from Dicalcium Phosphate) 30 mg
Magnesium (from 75% Magnesium Oxide and
25% Magnesium Taurinate) 100 mg

Other Ingredients:
Croscarmellose Sodium, Cellulose, Stearic Acid (vegetable source), Magnesium Stearate (vegetable source) and Enteric Coating.

I used to use the Solgar's. Before I had a computer even...they sold it at a local health food store, near me.

Then after many years and getting our first computer, the NOW came out, and I switched to that one. Solgar in stores is much more expensive than on iherb.

So the NOW worked just as well and has the B2 in it...which is the cofactor for pyridoxine conversion, and I liked that better, since I suspected I was a poor converter to pyridoxal.

Both are coated to protect from the stomach acids.

There was a time you know when choices were nil. It was difficult just finding these items that today we rather take for granted.

Hello I'm not sure if this thread is still active but i'll take the chance it's not. A few months ago I was diagnosed with Pyroluria, my Pyrrole levels were 24.6 HPL(ug/dL) Normalised. The strange thing was my b6 P5P levels were exceptionally elevated at 280 nmol/L (35-110), before the test i had never taken b6 supplements. My zinc levels were at the low end at 10.6 umol/L (9-19). I feel I have symptoms of peripheral neuropathy, I now have a constant tingling in my feet, and occasionally in my hands. I have transient numbness in areas of my feet, along with seldom transient pin prick sensations in my feet, hands, arms, and legs.
I understand elevated pyridoxine levels are caused by the inability of the liver to convert it to P5P, but I don't have elevated levels of pyridoxine, I have elevated levels of P5P. Can elevated levels of P5P cause PN? What can cause elevated levels of P5P if you have never supplemented with b6?
Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

I don't think the answer to your question is known yet.

There are a few studies that do find elevated B6 levels, in some people who do not supplement. This suggests some genetic error in B6 utilization.

One study was accidentally found in autistic children, who were tested routinely before beginning B6 supplements. This study was to see if B6 helped their cognition and emotional response. What was unexpected was to find elevated B6 levels. They were not taking any supplements when tested.

Most people do not get tested for B6... so there is a huge unknown population out there who may reveal many problems in this area. What is puzzling is why this is not excreted by the kidney, which one would expect. I suspect some genetic error some where that causes this.

An example I found recently was regarding hereditary angioedema. One site suggested that family history for this genetic error, doesn't show up in some people. They suggested some kind of damage to the embryo during early development that damages the enzyme C-1 inhibitor, that removes bradykinin from the body. So that suggests an error during early development of the embryo may occur for other problems too, and those have not been discovered yet.

Do you know for sure that P5P was specifically tested for? My impressions of the B6 test are that it is not that specific.

Another possibility is factititious elevation due to handling by the lab or the blood sample. An example is potassium serum determinations, can be falsely elevated if the red cells burst (lyse) in the sample. I don't know if B6 in the red cells is high, since that is a specific thing only testing labs know IMO. But if your red cells burst and release B6, it could result in a false high reading. The cells can burst from too tight a tourniquet during the draw, or if a butterfly thin needle is used for small veins.
Usually the report will say Lysis of cells, somewhere on it, but not always. I just don't know if B6 can have this false high.

Labs seem to make mistakes also on nutrient testing. They don't seem to calibrate their machines carefully, etc. This happened twice in US with Quest labs, which reported false Vit D levels twice for at least a year each time!

I think you need to ask the lab itself about procedures etc. Often times doctors will re-run tests that are iffy.

Hey thanks for your reply mrsD, I had the test redone to confirm the results and the levels were pretty much the same. The test states it measured p5p levels. I made sure because I had only heard of unexplained elevated levels of Pyridoxine.
I recently learned that Hypophosphatasia(HPP) can cause elevated levels of p5p. Unfortunately I can't post links since I haven't made 10 posts or more, I joined this forum a few days ago. But if you google elevated levels of p5p there's information from the mayoclinic and others on HPP causing high p5p levels.
So there is a possible lead. I'll have tests done to possibly confirm Hypophosphatasia. Again thanks for your reply.

Here is a quote from Wiki on this disorder:

This is only for the adult form. This genetic disease has other presentations, all of which are dramatic and disabling, and sometimes fatal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypophosphatasia

People with this genetic error, will show very low alkaline phosphatase levels, on testing, and many other obvious problems with bone formation. This is a very rare disorder. I hope for your sake this is not your problem.

Vitamin B6 metabolism is very complex. There can be errors in many points along the pathways it takes:
http://www.kegg.jp/kegg-bin/show_pathway?map00750

Pyridoxine is near the center of the map, and is part of a square
showing formation of pyridoxal...and to the left is the fate of pyridoxal. The rectangular boxes, have numbers in them, and those are enzymes that have been coded so far.

This wiki article explains the chemistry further:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyridoxal_phosphate

At one time I read that about 300 reactions depend on P5P...
so this just adds to the complexity.

The most notable pyridoxine error in humans is B6 dependency.
These individuals require really high doses of B6 beyond normal to survive. This is a genetic error and also very rare.

I only provide these links and topics to illustrate how complicated B6 is in the body. And the medical community does not really have a good grasp on all the potential problems involving errors of utilization with it.

One of the primary sources for B6 is meat. Bananas are quite high too and most breakfast cereals and potatoes. Try avoiding these dietary sources, read all labels of other foods you consume, and get retested in 3 to 6 months and see what your P5P is then.
It is possible there is a source in your food that you have overlooked. This is the most common source. If you are still high after doing a dietary makeover....then genetic issues are what is left.

Hi mrsD,

I am one of these very rare individuals.

Because of this I have lived a very unique life. A brief description of the early years of my life is to be located in the 'New Member Introductions' section of NeuroTalk.

I have posted on several other forums around the world and had lots of very interesting replies.

Kind Regards,

Andrew

(I have now been prescribed Pyridoxine HCL - which I have been using on a daily bases - for over 42 years. I have also been using a multi B complex since 1990)

Welcome to NeuroTalk, Andrew:

Nice to have you here!

Came across this as one of the causes of nueropathy. Quit talking all multi vitamin supplements to see if my symptoms would improve. Got tested a week after being off vitamin supplements and my level was 106.5. I couldn't find any information about at which point B6 becomes toxic and causes nueropathy. Not sure if it is my problem or not but it would make sense since I started getting nueropathy when I was training hard and drinking lots of sports drinks and started to feel crummy so I started loading up on the vitamins. My Doctor had given me a vitamin drink that was making me sick everytime I drank it and it.

Found this. Click on:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16320662

A mega dose for a person with CMT is defined as 10 times the RDA.