Infra-Clinical Vitamin B12 Deficiency and Microangiopathic Profile, is this a New Risk Factor in Type 2 Diabetics? Algerian Experience

Type 2 diabetes has multifactorial complications, in which hyperhomocysteinemia is an emerging risk factor that may be secondary to various conditions such as vitamin B12 deficiency, which appears oftenly as an asymptomatic setting and less specific in diabetics. Vitamin B12 deficiency definition has been revisited because its level does not reflect the intracellular status of vitamin B12, and an intracellular cofactor must be included systematically. Subclinical deficiency of vitamin B12 has recently been identified as a new clinic-biological entity that can affect micro and macro-angiopathic complications of diabetes indirectly through hyperhomocysteinemia. Materials and methods: 40 diabetic patients were screened for an infra-clinicalvitaminB12 deficiency subdivided into two groups each containing 16 patients, the first group having a deficit and the second having a normal level of vitamin B12. They were compared according to the frequency of micro-antipathy (retinopathy, nephropathy, peripheral neuropathy). Results: No significant difference was found for the different microangiopathic lesions; nevertheless the subclinical deficit seems to be a risk factor for peripheral neuropathy. Conclusion: In this study with a very modest sample. We attempted to approach the link between the borderline deficit of vitamin B12 and micro-angiopathic complications. In these results, even though the risk trend does not seem to be developing, the prospects for more extensive studies, both prospective and fundamental, should be encouraged.