View clinical trials related to Vitamin B 12 Deficiency.
Filter by:Adequate levels of vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is necessary for normal growth and development in infants. We have earlier investigated cobalamin status in healthy children and we observed metabolic evidence of impaired cobalamin status during the first 6 months, but not later in life. The purpose of this study is to determine if cobalamin supplementation may influence the metabolic profile related to cobalamin status in infants.
Background and objective: Plasma cobalamins decrease during pregnancy but it is not fully elucidated how this is reflected in the total and cobalamin saturated transport proteins, transcobalamin (total TC, holoTC) and haptocorrin (total HC, holoHC). TC transports cobalamin into the cells. The function of HC is unknown, but in contrast to TC it binds both cobalamins and cobalamin analogues. Design and methods: Healthy pregnant women (N=141) had blood samples drawn at 18th, 32nd, 39th gestation week and 8 weeks postpartum. The protein moiety of TC and HC (total and holo) was measured by in-house ELISA methods.
Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient for normal DNA-synthesis and must be supplied by animal products. Vitamin B12 deficiency may cause anemia and irreverible neurological damage. Laboratory tests are used for diagnosis of vitamin B12 deficiency, and following the diagnosis, the cause of the vitamin B12 deficiency has to be clarified. For years a test called Shilling’s test has been used for evaluation of the vitamin B12 absorption. However, the Schilling’s test is no longer easy accessible because of increasing difficulties to obtain the radioactively labeled vitamin B12 requested, and native human intrinsic factor for Schilling’s test II (absorption of vitamin B12 attached to intrinsic factor) is no longer available in most countries. Recently, human intrinsic factor unsaturated with vitamin B12 has been expressed in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The purpose of this study was to examine whether recombinant human intrinsic factor is able to promote the uptake of vitamin B12 in patients with evident vitamin B12 deficiency.
Patients who fit the inclusion criteria are admitted into the study. They are given 3 IV injection of MBL in the first week and one tablet three times a day for 16 weeks.