Department of Pharmacology, Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
Multidisciplinary Research Unit, Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
J Paediatr Child Health. 2022 Dec;58(12):2243-2247. doi: 10.1111/jpc.16207. Epub 2022 Sep 13.
Adequate vitamin B12 levels in infancy are crucial for normal psychomotor and cognitive development of infants. Our aim was to examine serum vitamin B12, folate and ferritin levels in exclusively breastfed healthy full-term infants (age group: 1-6 months), and also investigate their correlation with maternal markers.
A cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 exclusively breastfed healthy full-term infants (age group: 1-6 months) along with their lactating mothers. Serum vitamin B12, folate and ferritin levels were determined for each mother-infant dyad using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
The mean serum vitamin B12, folate and ferritin levels were 512 vs. 535 pg/mL, 15 vs. 12 ng/mL and 313 vs. 114 ng/mL in infants and mothers, respectively. Among 100 infants, 26 (26%) had lower vitamin B12 levels and 5 (5%) had inadequate folate levels. In addition, 22 (22%) of 100 lactating mothers were deficient in vitamin B12 levels and 14 (14%) had inadequate folate levels. We found a statistically significant positive correlation between infant and maternal vitamin B12 (r = 0.659, P < 0.001) and folate levels (r = 0.51, P < 0.001).
Vitamin B12 deficiency was observed in 26% of infants and 22% of lactating mothers. Vitamin B12 and folate levels of infants were positively correlated with maternal levels in the state of Punjab, North-West India. Our findings support that maternal vitamin B12 status can be used as a valuable predictor of infant vitamin B12 status.
婴儿期充足的维生素 B12 水平对婴儿正常的精神运动和认知发育至关重要。我们的目的是检测纯母乳喂养的健康足月婴儿（年龄组：1-6 个月）的血清维生素 B12、叶酸和铁蛋白水平，并研究其与母体标志物的相关性。
对 100 名纯母乳喂养的健康足月婴儿（年龄组：1-6 个月）及其哺乳期母亲进行了横断面研究。使用酶联免疫吸附试验测定每个母婴对的血清维生素 B12、叶酸和铁蛋白水平。
婴儿和母亲的血清维生素 B12、叶酸和铁蛋白水平分别为 512 与 535 pg/ml、15 与 12 ng/ml 和 313 与 114 ng/ml。在 100 名婴儿中，26 名（26%）维生素 B12 水平较低，5 名（5%）叶酸水平不足。此外，22 名（22%）哺乳期母亲维生素 B12 水平不足，14 名（14%）叶酸水平不足。我们发现婴儿和母亲的维生素 B12（r=0.659，P<0.001）和叶酸水平（r=0.51，P<0.001）之间存在显著正相关。
在印度西北部旁遮普邦，26%的婴儿和 22%的哺乳期母亲存在维生素 B12 缺乏。婴儿的维生素 B12 和叶酸水平与母体水平呈正相关。我们的研究结果支持母体维生素 B12 状况可作为婴儿维生素 B12 状况的有价值预测指标。
