Accumulation of methylmalonic acid may provide an early clue to deficiency of cobalamin (vitamin B12) in tissue. Metabolic abnormalities involving precursors of methylmalonic acid are frequently observed in patients with hepatic diseases. To establish whether methylmalonic acid accumulates and thereby gives false-positive test results for cobalamin deficiency, we measured the concentration of m...

The problem of substrate accumulation in microbial cells has been the subject of considerable investigation in recent years. However, comparatively little is known of the conditions influencing the accumulation of vitamins into microbial cells. One might cite as examples the investigations of Oginsky (1952) with vitamin B12, of Lichstein and Ferguson (1958) with biotin, and of Wood and Hitching...

JOSEPH F. Ross, M.D., Editor

EARLY ALL MICROBIOLOGIC assays for folic acid activity (FA) have used Streptococcus faecalis and Lactobacillus casei (1). Earlier it appeared that these organisms could not detect FA deficiency in man (2, 3); for example, in one study using S. faecalis there was no detectible activity in the fasting serum of humans (4). Administration of a loading dose of folic acid with subsequent assay by S. ...

BACKGROUND Vitamin B12 deficiency is prevalent in many countries of origin of refugees. Using a threshold of 5% above which a prevalence of low Vitamin B12 is indicative of a population health problem, we hypothesised that Vitamin B12 deficiency exceeds this threshold among newly-arrived refugees resettling in Australia, and is higher among women due to their increased risk of food insecurity. ...

Vitamin B12 deficiency is uncommon in pregnancy, it occurs in 10-28% of uncomplicated pregnancies, and is associated with a few complications. We present a case report of a 21-year-old patient with severe anaemia during late pregnancy caused by vitamin B12 deficiency. At 38 weeks gestation and with a BMI of 48.9, a history of rupture of membranes was given but not confirmed. On examination, she...

Urinary aminoimidazolecarboxamide (A IC), serum folate, and serum vitamin B12 values were determined in 84 apparently healthy individuals. An automated system for determination of AIC in urine is described. Despite claims to the contrary, we found no evidence of a strong relationship between elevated (e.g., >1.3 zg/mg of creatinine) AIC excretion as reflected in a casual sample of urine and fol...

During three decades of neurological practice I have witnessed a remarkable change in attitudes to the benefits and risks of folic acid therapy in nervous system disorders. In the 1960s all that was known and taught was that folic acid was harmful to the nervous system, especially in precipitating or exacerbating the neurological complications of vitamin B12 deficiency. So deeply held was this ...