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Inhibitory Effect of Eggs on Vitamin B 12 Absorption: Description of a Simple Ovalbumin 57 Co‐Vitamin B 12 Absorption Test
Author(s) -
Doscherholmen A.,
McMahon J.,
Ripley D.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2141.1976.tb03537.x
Subject(s) - ovalbumin , vitamin b12 , absorption (acoustics) , vitamin , chemistry , in vivo , biochemistry , biology , immunology , materials science , immune system , microbiology and biotechnology , composite material
S ummary . Ovalbumin and egg yolks, mixed separately in vitro with radiocyanocobalamin ( 57 Co‐vitamin B 12 ), were served to normal volunteers in a cooked form. Ovalbumin, and to a lesser degree, egg yolks were observed to inhibit vitamin B 12 absorption. This observation explains the rather poor assimilation of vitamin B 12 from eggs labelled in vivo with 57 Co‐vitamin B 12 . The assimilation of vitamin B 12 from the ovalbumin 57 Co‐vitamin B 12 mixture was also measured in patients with structural alterations and functional disorders of the stomach. In contrast to the absorption test using crystalline radio‐vitamin B 12 , this simple food‐vitamin B 12 absorption test successfully distinguished between the controls and subjects who had simple gastric achlorhydria and patients who had undergone a Billroth I or II operation or a successful vagotomy with pyloroplasty. Furthermore, this ovalbumin 57 Co‐vitamin B 12 test successfully separated patients with pernicious anaemia from those with simple gastric achlorhydria. The ovalbumin 57 Co‐vitamin B 12 test, in contrast to that using crystalline 57 Co‐vitamin B 12 , showed a positive correlation with the serum vitamin B 12 concentration. This ovalbumin 57 Co‐vitamin B 12 test, being more physiologic and informative than the method using crystalline radio‐vitamin B 12 , is the first simple model for food‐vitamin B 12 absorption to be proposed for research and for clinical purposes.