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Article: Vitamin [B.sub.12] in the treatment of liver disease.(Nutritional Influences on Illness)
- Article from:
- Townsend Letter: The Examiner of Alternative Medicine
- Article date:
- December 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 The Townsend Letter Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Several diseases of the liver, such as acute hepatitis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and metastatic liver disease, may be accompanied by an increase in circulating cobalamin (vitamin [B.sub.12]) levels. (1) Elevation of vitamin [B.sub.12] in the circulation is accompanied by an increase in [B.sub.12] carriers (holotranscobalamins). (2,3) These findings are in contrast to liver tissue, within which total vitamin [B.sub.12] and holotranscobalamin concentrations are low. (2,3) Thus, normal or high blood vitamin [B.sub.12] concentrations in patients with liver disease often mask a low level of the vitamin in the hepatic tissue and may serve as an indicator of the ...