Correspondence Address Jaime Moyá, Psychiatry Resident, University Clinic, University of Navarra, Avda. Pı́o XII N8 36 CP: 31080 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain E-mail: [email protected] This article presents a patient with a history of depression, progressive impairment of brain functions, diarrhoea and faecal incontinence. A cobalamin deficiency, without megaloblastic anaemia was detected, and an abnorma...

We present a case of a diver who suffered decompression sickness (DCS), but who also was a strict vegetarian for more than 10 years. He presented with symptoms of tingling of both feet and left hand, weakness in both legs and sensory deficits for vibration and propriocepsis after two deep dives with decompression. The initial clinical features of this case were most consistent with DCS, possibl...

Based on Victor Herbert's model for sequential stages in the development of vitamin B12 deficiency, the holotranscobalamin (HoloTC) immunoassay has controversially been promoted as a more specific and sensitive replacement for the total vitamin B12 test, for the diagnosis of deficiency. There have been no longitudinal studies, by means of experimental cobalamin deficiency, because ethical consi...

Measurement of methylmalonic acid (MMA) is recognised as a useful tool in the diagnostic work-up of suspected cobalamin deficiency (1). Increased concentrations of MMA in both serum and urine are indicative of cobalamin deficiency at the tissue level. MMA measurement in serum as the sample material is convenient from a logistic point of view, since analysis can be performed using residual sampl...

Methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) is usually caused by a deficiency of the enzyme methylmalonyl-CoA mutase (MCM), a defect in the transport or synthesis of its cofactor, adenosyl-cobalamin (cblA, cblB, cblC, cblF, cblD, and cblX), or deficiency of the enzyme methylmalonyl-CoA epimerase. A comprehensive diagnostic approach involves investigations of metabolites with tandem mass spectrometry, organic ...

Rhode Island Hospital, Department of Neurology, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA Movement Disorders Program, Butler Hospital, Department of Neurology, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA *Author for correspondence: [email protected] “Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) deficiency has long been associated with neurological impairments, particularl...

Mammalian nitric oxide synthases (NOS) are a source of the universal second messenger, and pivotal biochemical molecule, nitric oxide ( . NO). NOS are assumed to function catalytically in a haem-centred manner, by analogy with cytochrome P450. Yet, they differ significantly. Cobalamin, vitamin B12, is believed to function almost solely as an . NO scavenger and, latterly, as a direct, physiologi...

OBJECTIVES To determine the possible interactions between levodopa therapy and plasma levels of B vitamins in patients with advanced idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) in the context of either oral levodopa therapy or levodopa/carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG). Secondly, to determine the prevalence of neuropathy and its relation to plasma levels of B vitamins and homocysteine. METHODS Medicat...

      Objective(s): Incidence of neurocognitive and psychological disorders may be related to serum homocystein (Hcy), cobalamin (vitamin B12 ) and folate levels in old people. The aim of this study was to assess the relation between Hcy, cobalamin, folate and neurocognitive and/or psychological disorders in the elderly.   Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 280 subjects with ...

Cobalamin-independent methionine synthase (MetE) catalyzes the final step in Escherichia coli methionine biosynthesis but is inactivated under oxidative conditions, triggering a methionine deficiency. This study demonstrates that the mutation of MetE cysteine 645 to alanine completely eliminates the methionine auxotrophy imposed by diamide treatment, suggesting that modulation of MetE activity ...