What is cobalamin blood test?
Sometimes the amount of folate inside red blood cells may also be measured. Vitamin B12, also called cobalamin, is found in foods from animals, such as red meat, fish, poultry, milk, yogurt, and eggs.
What does cobalamin do for dogs?
Cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12 or cobalamin) is a vitamin supplement used to treat systemic deficiencies of vitamin B12 due to metabolic or genetic disorders. Its use in cats and dogs to treat vitamin deficiencies is sometimes ‘off label’ or ‘extra label’.
How do you test for cobalamin deficiency?
Elevated levels of MMA and HCY are commonly used as adjuvant diagnostics to confirm a suspected diagnosis of cobalamin deficiency. Although many studies have used serum MMA as a “gold standard” for evaluating cobalamin assays, this practice has been subjected to controversy.
What is a normal B12 level for a dog?
Reference Interval
| Cobalamin | Folate | |
|---|---|---|
| Canine | 251 – 908 ng/L | 7.7 – 24.4 µg/L |
| Feline | 290 – 1,500 ng/L | 9.7 – 21.6 µg/L |
When to use cobalamin as a diagnostic test?
Measurement of serum cobalamin concentration, often in combination with serum folate concentration, is routinely performed as a diagnostic test in small animal practice to detect dogs with vitamin B deficiency. The detection of hypocobalaminemia also has therapeutic implications.
Where is cobalamin absorbed in dogs and cats?
Pancreatic function should be evaluated in dogs and cats with cobalamin deficiency as cobalamin absorption is dependent on exocrine pancreatic function. Folate: Absorbed in the proximal small intestine only.
What are the causes of cobalamin deficiency in dogs?
Disorders of cobalamin (vitamin B 12) metabolism are increasingly recognized in small animal medicine. Causes of cobalamin deficiency in dogs vary from chronic gastrointestinal (GI) disease to hereditary defects in cobalamin metabolism.
Why is cobalamin important to both humans and animals?
Cobalamin, or vitamin B12, is a water soluble vitamin that is an essential cofactor for many enzyme systems in humans and animals. Animals are unable to synthesize cobalamin and are dependent on nutritional sources.
Cobalamin, or vitamin B12, is a water soluble vitamin that is an essential cofactor for many enzyme systems in humans and animals. Animals are unable to synthesize cobalamin and are dependent on nutritional sources.
What should cobalamin levels be in dogs and cats?
Normal serum cobalamin levels depend on the reference laboratory used. The Texas A&M University Gastrointestinal Laboratory reports a reference interval of 251 to 908 ng/L for dogs and 290 to 1500 ng/L for cats. However, it is important to remember that cobalamin functions intracellularly.
What does folate and cobalamin mean for dogs?
Serum folate and cobalamin provide useful information that can contribute to the diagnosis of small intestinal (SI) disease in dogs and cats Decreased folate and/or decreased cobalamin can be indicative of disease of the proximal and/or distal small intestine (SI) respectively, reflecting the sites for the normal absorption of these vitamins.
What causes serum cobalamin to become subnormal in dogs?
Note: Dietary deficiency of cobalamin and folate is highly improbable and even starvation of several weeks duration does not cause serum cobalamin and folate to become subnormal in dogs. Therefore, subnormal serum concentrations of cobalamin reflect a state of chronic malabsorption and should be treated (cobalamin treatment protocol).
