Liver vitamin B 12 levels in chronic liver diseases.

Liver is apparently the major storage organ of vitamin B12 (B12). Experiments with radioactive B12 have shown that when this substance is administered orally the major part of the absorbed B12 is accumulated in the liver of the human body (1). It has been reported that serurp B12 levels in patients with acute or chronic liver diseases are markedly elevated (2-5). In experimental acute hepatic necrosis of rabbits provoked by carbon tetrachloride the marked ele vation in serum B12 levels and the decrease in liver B12 levels have been ob served (6). B12 levels of the liver tissues from several patients with acute hepatitis have been shown to be low by the studies with biopsy materials (7), and also it has been reported that B12 levels of the liver tissues obtained at autopsy from the patients with cirrhosis of the liver are markedly decreased (8). The present investigation was carried out to determine the changes in B12 storage of the liver with materials obtained at laparotomy from patients with chronic liver diseases. Preliminary reports of certain phases of this study have been published (9, 10).