Assessment of early and delayed responses in vitamin B12 absorption during antibiotic therapy in tropical malabsorption.

1. Vitamin B12 absorption was measured in 18 patients with tropical malabsorption. 2. Absorption was particularly impaired in patients with severe mucosal lesions. 3. Sequential measurements with 57Co- and 58Co-labelled vitamin B12 were made before and 48 h after the start of tetracycline therapy. A rapid improvement (on average 22% increase in absorption) occurred in four of six patients with marked mucosal lesions. Further improvement occurred in four of five patients measured after 4 weeks' tetracycline, including the two who failed to improve initially. 4. These rapid changes in vitamin B12 absorption after antibiotics occur too early to be due to mucosal recovery and suggest that bacterial metabolism is an important factor in the malabsorption in these patients.