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The importance of active B12 (holotranscobalamin) measurement in the diagnosis of vitamin B12 deficiency in type 2 DM patients using metformin

International Journal of Diabetes in Developing Countries (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

B12 deficiency, which can be seen in type 2 DM patients using metformin, can cause peripheral nerve damage that can easily be confused with peripheral neuropathy, a complication of diabetes. Therefore, early diagnosis is important in patients.

Objective

In our study, we aimed to investigate benefit of Active B12 measurement in diagnosing B12 deficiency, as it might be a better alternative in follow-up of B12 levels in type 2 DM patients using metformin.

Methods

Patients were divided into three groups according to their Total B12 levels: Deficient, Borderline and Sufficient. Homocysteine and Active B12 (holotranscobalamin) levels were studied with Chemiluminescent Microparticle Immunoassay (CMIA) for quantitative determination. Duration of use, daily metformin dose, and other parameters were collected from records and interviews.

Results

A statistically significant positive correlation was found between Total B12 and Active B12 (r = 0.624, p = 0.000). A statistically significant negative correlation was found between metformin dose and Active B12 and Total B12 levels (r = -0.309, r = -0.212, respectively; p < 0.05). While effects of metformin dose and duration of use groups were not found statistically significant in binary logistic regression analysis for Total B12 groups, the OR value for Active B12 was found to be 5.575 (95% CI 1.456–21.343, p = 0.012).

Conclusions

It is important to closely follow up Type2 DM patients with high daily metformin dose in terms of B12 deficiency. Active B12 is a significant predictor of B12 deficiency compared to other parameters.

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Data availability

Based on a request, the data supporting the current work’s findings is available from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Tagi Polat for his support in the laboratory studies of this study.

Funding

The research was funded by Bezmialem Foundation University Scientific Research Projects Unit (Project Number: 20200601E).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Bezmialem Vakif University, Adnan Menderes Bulvarı, Vatan Caddesi, 34093, Istanbul, Turkey

    Tugce Yıldız, Caner Yıldız & Omer Faruk Ozer

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Bezmialem Vakif University, 34093, Istanbul, Turkey

    Sevval Yıldız

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Bezmialem Vakif University, 34093, Istanbul, Turkey

    Muhammed Tunc, Mustafa Cakırca & Cumali Karatoprak

  4. Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Bezmialem Vakif University, 34093, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ozge Pasin

Authors
  1. Tugce Yıldız
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  2. Sevval Yıldız
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tugce Yıldız.

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Ethics approval

This study was carried out with the permission no 07/128 (date: 22/ 05/2020) obtained from Bezmialem Vakif University Noninterventional Research Ethics Committee.

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All of the authors declare that they have all participated in the design, execution, and analysis of the paper, and that they have approved the final version. Additionally, there are no conflicts of interest in connection with this paper, and the material described is not under publication or consideration for publication elsewhere.

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Yıldız, T., Yıldız, S., Tunc, M. et al. The importance of active B12 (holotranscobalamin) measurement in the diagnosis of vitamin B12 deficiency in type 2 DM patients using metformin. Int J Diabetes Dev Ctries (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13410-023-01217-0

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