Summary
The absorption of free and I.F.-bound B12 has been studied in 14 cases with intestinal malabsorption (Table 6). Eight had a normal absorption of free B12, but in all of these the absorption of intrinsic factor-bound B12 was subnormal. This finding may be diagnostically useful. The absorption of liver-bound vitamin B12 in cases with the malabsorption syndrome was also lower than that of free B12. This is contrary to earlier findings in controls and in cases of pernicious anemia.
The fact that B12-protein complexes are split into dialyzable molecules, either in the intestinal lumen or in the intestinal wall, before absorption, could explain why defective intralumenal digestion or defective intestinal-wall function could prevent absorption of bound B12.
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The work reported here was supported by Ekhaga Foundation. Stockholm, Sweden, and Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N. J.
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Reizenstein, P.G., Kulsdom, N. Intestinal absorption of protein-bound vitamin B12 in the malabsorption syndrome. Digest Dis Sci 5, 917–922 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02232859
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02232859