Identification of vitamin B12 deficiency in vegetarian Indians
Identification of vitamin B12 deficiency in vegetarian Indians
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识别印度素食者维生素 B12 缺乏症
DOI:
10.1017/s0007114518000090
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发表时间:
2018-03-28
影响因子:
3.6
通讯作者:
Bhide, Vijayshri
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Naik, Sadanand;Mahalle, Namita;Bhide, Vijayshri
The prevalence of a sub-clinical vitamin B-12 deficiency in the vegetarians is high. Total serum vitamin B-12 concentration alone does not reliably reflect vitamin B-12 status. Holotranscobalamin (holo-TC) II is a bioactive B-12 fraction promoting specific uptake of B-12 by cells and the circulating concentration reflects the intake of B-12, whereas total homocysteine (tHcy) indicates the metabolic ability. In this study, we investigated the diagnostic value of circulating holo-TC, B-12, folate and homocysteine in vegetarians who were at risk of B-12 deficiency. B-12-related biomarkers were measured in 119 young, healthy graduate vegetarians. None was folate deficient. As per reported definition, half were B-12 deficient; 70 % of males and 50 % of females had low plasma holo-TC concentrations; and 92 % of males and half of females had hyperhomocysteinaemia. None had any clinical signs of B-12 deficiency. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated similar AUC at the B-12 concentration of 100 and 150 pmol/l when holo-TC (0.77 and 0.784) and homocysteine (0.924 and 0.928) were used as variables. Cut-off value of 100 pmol/l resulted in the highest sensitivity of 77.78 % and specificity of 71.05 % with a predictive value of 19.6 pmol/l for holo-TC and a sensitivity of 82.72 % and specificity of 89.7 % with a predictive value of 21.7 mu mol/l for homocysteine. The combination of B-12, holo-TC and tHcy improves the diagnostic accuracy at these cut-offs, and we suggest that for the young Indian vegetarians the cut-off for plasma B-12 and holotrancobalamin is 100 pmol/l and 19.6 pmol/l, respectively, and for homocysteine it is 17.6 (females) and 27 mu mol/l (males) for identifying B-12 deficiency.