Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) deficiency associated neuropathy, originally called subacute combined degeneration, is particularly common in the elderly. The potential danger today is that with supplementation with folic acid of dietary staples such as flour, that the incidence of this disease could rise as folic acid, as opposed to natural folate (N5CH3HFGlu1), enters the cell and the metabolic cycle...

BACKGROUND Only cobalamin carried by transcobalamin (holo-transcobalamin) is available for cellular uptake and hence is physiologically relevant. However, no reliable or accurate methods for quantifying holo-transcobalamin are available. We report a novel holo-transcobalamin assay based on solid-phase capture of transcobalamin. METHODS A monoclonal antibody specific for human transcobalamin w...

Imerslund-Gräsbeck syndrome (I-GS, megaloblastic anemia 1) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by intestinal cobalamin (vitamin B(12)) malabsorption and proteinuria. I-GS-causing mutations are found in either of 2 genes encoding the epithelial proteins: cubilin and amnionless (AMN). Cubilin recognizes intrinsic factor (IF)-cobalamin and various other proteins to be endocytosed in t...

OBJECTIVE The study aimed to evaluate the homocysteine and cobalamin status of German vegans and determine whether the intake of very small amounts of foods of animal origin can improve this status. DESIGN AND SETTING Cross-sectional study, Germany. SUBJECTS The dietary and nutritional intakes of 131 vegans (73 women, 58 men; age range: 20.2-82.1 years) were evaluated using a general questi...

OBJECTIVES We evaluated the effect of therapy with folic acid and cobalamin on coronary endothelial function, expressed as a change in volumetric coronary blood flow (CBF), in hyperhomocysteinemic patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). BACKGROUND Hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for CAD. The mechanism responsible for this increased risk is unclear, but it is generally ...

In the course of catalysis or signaling, large multimodular proteins often undergo conformational changes that reposition the modules with respect to one another. The mechanisms that direct the reorganization of modules in these proteins are of considerable importance, but distinguishing alternate conformations is a challenge. Cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase (MetH) is a 136-kDa multimod...

The cobalamin-dependent enzyme, methionine synthetase, has been purified approximately 1000-fold to apparent homogeneity from human placenta with a 19% recovery. The final two steps of the purification utilized two different affinity columns. The first was a N5-methyltetrahydrofolate-cystamine-agarose column, and the second was a S-adenosylhomocysteine-agarose column. The enzyme was eluted from...

The pyloric mucosa and the gastric and intestinal juices of the dog were found to contain two cobalaminbinding proteins which have been identified as intrinsic factor and R binder. T h e ileal mucosa also contains unsaturated R binder and, in addition, a specific receptor protein which couples the intrinsic factormcobalamin complex. This receptor protein was solubilized using mechanical sharing...

BACKGROUND Combined methylmalonic aciduria and homocystinuria cobalamin C type (cobalamin C disease) is an inborn metabolic disorder consisting of an impaired intracellular synthesis of the 2 active forms of vitamin B12 (cobalamin), namely, adenosylcobalamin and methylcobalamin, that results in increased levels of methylmalonic acid and homocysteine in the blood and urine. Most patients present...

In vivo studies demonstrate that the pancreatic enzymes and the ionic environment in the upper gastrointestinal tract are essential determining factors for transport and absorption of cobalamin in man. Jejunal fluid was aspirated from healthy human volunteers after administration of cyano[57Co]cobalamin preparations. Immunochemical analysis of the aspirates demonstrated that all isotopic vitami...