Assessment of Vitamin B12Deficiency and Risk Factors in Healthy Infants

Objective To study vitamin B(12)deficiency in apparently healthy infants and their mothers and assess the risk factors. Methods A hospital-based, cross-sectional, observational study was conducted from July 2016 through December 2017. Consecutive healthy and normally developing infants were enrolled. Red blood cell folate, plasma vitamin B-12, homocysteine and methylmalonic acid levels of mothers and infants were assessed. Results Seventy-four healthy infants were enrolled. Male-to-female ratio was 1.5:1. Anemia in 66.2% (n = 49), low plasma B(12)in 17.6% (n = 13), hyperhomocysteinemia in 48.6% (n = 36), plasma methylmalonic acid in 100% (n = 74) and 'confirmed' B(12)deficiency in 38% (n = 28) infants were noted. The proportion of hyperhomocysteinemia increased to 75.7% (n = 56) infants using a lower cut-off of>10 mu mol/L. In mothers, low B(12)in 19%, hyperhomocysteinemia in 57% and elevated plasma methylmalonic acid in 100% were noted. Median plasma B(12)level was 314 pg/ml (IQR 221-421), median plasma homocysteine 15.4 mu mol/L (IQR 11.3-21.7) and median plasma methylmalonic acid was 8.28 mu mol/L (IQR 4.4-13.1) in mothers. Folate deficiency was noted in 9.4% infants and 12% of mothers. Overall, 63.5% mothers were vegetarian and, 64% of the mothers of infants with confirmed vitamin B12 deficiency were pure vegetarians. Odds of developing vitamin B(12)deficiency increased by more than 5 times in those whose mothers' serum vitamin B(12)levels were low as compared to normal maternal vitamin B(12)levels (OR 5.42; 95% CI: 1.96-16.6; p 0.002). Conclusions There is a high prevalence of vitamin B(12)deficiency in infants and their mothers. There is urgent need to supplement our population with vitamin B-12.

Automated summary

The study found a high prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency in infants and their mothers, indicating an urgent need for population supplementation with vitamin B12.