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Review
. 2008 Apr;54(4):536-41.

Vitamin B12 and health

Milly Ryan-Harshman  1 , Walid Aldoori
Affiliations
Review

Vitamin B12 and health

Milly Ryan-Harshman et al. Can Fam Physician. 2008 Apr.

Abstract
in English, French

Objective: To review recent evidence that suggests vitamin B12 is associated with risk reduction for some chronic diseases and birth defects.

Quality of evidence: A MEDLINE search from 1999 to 2007 was performed using the key word vitamin B12. The most relevant articles (129) dealt with cardiovascular disease, cancer, mental health, and birth outcomes;most studies presented level II evidence.

Main message: Vitamin B12 might confer health benefits; however, such benefits are difficult to ascertain because of the complementary functions of vitamin B12 and folic acid. Vitamin B12 might lower high homocysteine levels below a threshold level achieved by folic acid alone. Furthermore, the interactions between the nutritional environment and genotype might have an important influence on vitamin B12, chronic disease risk, and risk of neural tube defects.

Conclusion: Vitamin B12 might help protect against chronic disease and neural tube defects, but more research, particularly in the area of nutritional genomics, is needed to determine how vitamin B12 might augment the benefits of folic acid. Some consideration should be given to the potential value of fortifying foods with vitamin B12 in addition to the current mandatory folic acid fortification of grains.

OBJECTIF: Revoir les données récentes qui donnent à penser que la vitamine B12 est associée à un moindre risque de maladies chroniques et de malformations congénitales.

QUALITÉ DES PREUVES: On a consulté MEDLINE entre 1999 et 2007 à l’aide du mot-clé vitamin B12. Les articles les plus pertinents (129) traitaient de maladies cardiovasculaires, cancer, santé mentale et issues natales : la plupart des études présentaient des preuves de niveau II.

PRINCIPAL MESSAGE: La vitamine B12 pourrait être bénéfique pour la santé; de tells effets sont toutefois difficiles à vérifier parce que la vitamine B12 et l’acide folique ont des actions complémentaires. La B12 pourrait abaisser les niveaux d’homocystéine sous les niveaux seuils atteints par l’acide folique seule. De plus, les interactions entre l’environnement nutritionnel et le génotype pourraient avoir une influence importante sur la vitamine B12, le risque de maladie chronique et celui de malformations du tube neural.

CONCLUSION: La vitamine B12 pourrait aider à protéger contre des maladies chroniques et les malformations du tube neural, mais il faudra des études additionnelles, notamment dans le domaine de la génomique nutritionnelle, pour comprendre comment cette vitamine amplifie les effets bénéfiques de l’acide folique. On devrait s’interroger sur l’intérêt d’un éventuel enrichissement en vitamine B12 des aliments s’ajoutant à l’enrichissement obligatoire des grains en acide folique actuellement en vigueur.

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Comment in

  • Vitamin beef.
    Leyton E. Leyton E. Can Fam Physician. 2008 Jun;54(6):848. Can Fam Physician. 2008. PMID: 18556488 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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