Plasma Vitamin B12 May Be a Misleading Biomarker among Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition: An Observation from Mwanza, Tanzania
In contrast to our initial expectations, we found that plasma vitamin B12 was higher in children with SAM, especially those with edema. However, analysis of MMA revealed lower vitamin B12 function in malnourished children and improvement after treatment, warranting caution in the interpretation of plasma vitamin B12 in SAM. Elevated HC in SAM may explain high vitamin B12 concentration, but the cause of elevated HC needs further investigation.
Authors
- André Briend (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9390-8541)
- Melissa Gladstone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2579-9301)
- Belinda Kweka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6523-9894)
- Happyness Kunzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8676-9280)
- Ebba Nexø (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9406-9081)
- Henrik Friis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2848-2940)
- Suzanne Filteau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1119-6825)
- George PrayGod (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0329-4839)
- Mette Frahm Olsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5742-6403)
- Maimuna Ahmed
- Rikke Møller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1948-0799)
Institutions
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (TZ)
- Aarhus University Hospital (DK)
- Copenhagen University Hospital (DK)
- Rigshospitalet (DK)
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
- Liverpool Women's Hospital (GB)
- Tampere University (FI)
- National Institute for Medical Research (TZ)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Nutrition
- Published
- 2025-05-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.04.033
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Child Nutrition and Water Access
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.24
Funders
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
- Medical Research Council