Previous estimates of total vitamin B-6 pools in humans based on extrapolations from tracer studies yielded values of 107-190 mumol when the tracer was administered orally and 345-725 mumol when the tracer was administered intravenously. To obtain a more direct estimate of vitamin B-6 pools, muscle biopsies from five female and seven male adults were analyzed by cation-exchange chromatography. Total muscle mass was estimated from creatinine excretion and the assumption that muscle is 40% of the body weight. The total muscle vitamin B-6 pool was estimated to be 917 +/- 319 mumol in the females and 850 +/- 216 mumol in the males. Because muscle accounts for approximately 80% of the vitamin B-6 in the body, the total body pool of vitamin B-6 in adult humans is probably approximately 1000 mumol.

We tested the hypothesis that cross-bridge mechanisms of contraction differed in early postmenopausal women who did or did not receive hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Vastus lateralis biopsies were obtained from 17 postmenopausal women (49-57 years old), 8 of whom were on HRT for the previous 24 +/- 5 months and 9 of whom were never on HRT. Electrophoresis and enzyme histochemistry revealed that fiber myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform distribution, the cross-sectional area (CSA) of slow and fast fibers, and the relative CSA occupied by each, were similar for HRT and non-HRT groups. Single permeabilized fibers containing type IIa MHC had greater Ca(2+)-activated peak specific force, unloaded shortening velocity, and peak power than fibers containing type I MHC, but in all cases the values for HRT and non-HRT groups were similar. In this cross-sectional study, we found no evidence that Ca(2+)-activated fiber function, MHC isoform distribution, or relative CSA occupied by slow and fast fibers differed between HRT and non-HRT groups.