Vitamin B12 assimilation from chicken meat.

Chicken meat labeled in vivo with radio-B12 was ingested by normal volunteers. The absorption, measured by the fecal excretion method, was similar to that reported for crystalline radiocyanocobalamin and for mutton, but exceeded that from eggs. Parenteral injection of 1000 microgram of nonlabeled vitamin B12 did not interfere with the absorption of the radio-B12 from the meat. The urinary radioactivities, which were as low as those after oral administration of radioactive hydroxocobalamin and vitamin B12 coenzyme, suggested that the radio-B12 was present in meat in coenzyme form or was converted into the stable hydroxoform during the process of cooking and digestion. Patients with pernicious anemia showed insignificant urinary radioactivities in a standardized urinary excretion test using chicken meat whereas subjects with simple gastric achlorhydria and partial gastrectomy had subnormal values although their absorption of crystalline radiocyanocobalamin was normal. The subnormal serum vitamin B12 concentration seen in these latter subjects may, therefore, be due to impaired assimilation of vitamin B12 from food.