Better Way to Measure Vitamin B12 Offered

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http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/fnrb/f...3.htm?pf=1#b12

Better Way to Measure Vitamin B12 Offered


Now there's a new, improved technique for measuring the amount of vitamin B12 in foods and in supplements such as vitamin pills. This nutrient, found in meat and dairy products, is essential for proper growth and for healthy cells.

The new approach from ARS scientists is faster than the most commonly used laboratory assay. And, the new technique can be used to individually detect all the various forms of vitamin B12, called cobalamins.

The improved assay should enhance research aimed at learning how our bodies take up and use cobalamins. The B12 test uses either of two standard techniques--capillary electrophoresis or micro-high-performance liquid chromatography--for separating samples into the various individual cobalamins. This is combined with a technique, called inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, which measures how much of each form of vitamin B12 is present.

For more information, contact Nancy Miller-Ihli, (301) 504-8252, ext. 252, USDA-ARS Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, MD.

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An excerpt from http://www.iconocast.com/teen/diseas...oodanemia.html

Single Drop Of Blood May Help Millions Avoid Dementia, Anemia

Article Date: 07 Apr 2006 - 17:00 PST
A team of scientists and a physician at the University of California, Davis, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed a safer, more accurate test for pernicious anemia and other conditions related to the poor absorption of vitamin B12. Details of the innovative test -- which uses micro doses of carbon-14-labeled vitamin B12 produced by a modified strain of Salmonella bacteria and a $2 million accelerator mass spectrometer to measure vitamin levels -- will be published online in the April issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The discovery, including the first test in a human subject, is important because it gives researchers a practical alternative to the current near-obsolete laboratory test for determining if a patient's low B12 level is due to the inability to properly absorb the vitamin. The simple test would allow physicians to easily diagnose patients with vitamin B12 absorption problems before anemia, dementia and other permanent damage develop.

The work also represents a growing area of clinical research, dubbed "microdosing," whereby harmlessly small doses of drug candidates are paired with powerful accelerator mass spectrometry to initially assess activity in humans before lengthy preliminary animal testing.

An estimated 1 million Americans over the age of 65 are unable to properly absorb vitamin B12. Many of them are unaware that they have the condition, known as pernicious anemia, which puts them at risk for developing debilitating fatigue and neurological problems. At the same time, physicians treating the elderly are frustrated by the lack of a safe and simple way to test for poor vitamin B12 absorption in their patients.