Pyridoxamine

Pyridoxamine is one form of vitamin B6. Chemically it is based on a pyridine ring structure, with hydroxyl, methyl, aminomethyl, and hydroxymethyl substituents. It differs from pyridoxine by the substituent at the 4-position. The hydroxyl at position 3 and aminomethyl group at position 4 of its ring endow pyridoxamine with a variety of chemical properties, including the scavenging of free radical species and carbonyl species formed in sugar and lipid degradation and chelation of metal ions that catalyze Amadori reactions. Pyridoxamine can form fairly weak complexes with a number of transition metal ions, with a preference for Cu2+ and Fe3+. The 3'-hydroxyl group of pyridoxamine allows for efficient hydroxyl radical scavenging. Pyridoxamine inhibits the Maillard reaction and can block the formation of advanced glycation endproducts, which are associated with medical complications of diabetes. Pyridoxamine is hypothesized to trap intermediates in the formation of Amadori products released from glycated proteins, possibly preventing the breakdown of glycated proteins by disrupting the catalysis of this process through disruptive interactions with the metal ions crucial to the redox reaction. One research study found that pyridoxamine specifically reacts with the carbonyl group in Amadori products, but inhibition of post-Amadori reactions (that can lead to advanced glycation endproducts) is due in much greater part to the metal chelation effects of pyridoxamine. A variety of preclinical studies in animal models of diabetes indicated that pyridoxamine improved kidney histology comparable or superior to aminoguanidine. Because of these results, pyridoxamine has been investigated for clinical utility in the treatment of diabetic nephropathy. Pyridoxamine also inhibits the formation of advanced lipoxidation endproducts during lipid peroxidation reactions by reaction with dicarbonyl intermediates. In other preclinical research, pyridoxamine may be efficacious in treating diabetic neuropathy and retinopathy associated with diabetes and kidney stone disease.