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VITAMIN B 12 IN HUMAN COLOSTRUM AND MILK
Author(s) -
SAMSON R. R.,
McCLELLAND D. B. L.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1980.tb07037.x
Subject(s) - colostrum , vitamin b12 , lactation , incubation , vitamin , medicine , zoology , endocrinology , food science , biology , biochemistry , immunology , pregnancy , antibody , genetics
. Samson, R. R. and McClelland, D. B. L. (University Department of Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, Edinburgh, Scotland). Vitamin B 12 in human colostrum and milk. Quantitation of the vitamin and its binder and the uptake of bound vitamin B 12 by intestinal bacteria. Acta Paediatr Scand, 69:93, 1980.—The concentration of vitamin B 12 was measured by microbiological assay in 229 samples of normal human colostrum and milk taken at various stages of lactation. Colostrum obtained within 48 hours of delivery contains high concentrations of vitamin B 12 (mean 2431 pg/ml), but within a few days the levels fall to a range similar to the levels in normal serum. The vitamin B 12 binding capacity of 111 samples of colostrum and milk was estimated by gel filtration or charcoal binding. Colostrum samples have a mean binding capacity of 72 ng/ml, while the binding capacity in milk is only one third of this value. The ability of a range of intestinal bacteria to take up colostrum‐bound vitamin B 12 , was assessed. All the organisms took up free vitamin B 12 , but when the vitamin was bound in colostrum, there was little or no uptake even after 24 hours incubation