We confirm a decrease in cobalamins during pregnancy, and report that the active part of cobalamins (holotranscobalamin, holoTC) remains unchanged. The decrease in cobalamins is explained by a decreased holohaptocorrin (holoHC), suggesting that holoTC rather than cobalamins should be used as a marker of vitamin B12 deficiency during pregnancy.

A comparative study was done to determine the profile of vitamin B12 and folate status in Malaysians during two different periods. For the period of 1987/88, we analysed a total of 9,162 cases (inpatients) referred for vitamin B12 estimation and 10,290 cases for folate estimation. We found that 2.6% were vitamin B12 deficient and 31.2% were folate deficient. For the period of 1992/93, of the 9,...

The archetypes The era of modern antibody therapy begins with Rodney Porter’s Nobel Prize-winning report on the basic structure of the immunoglobulin molecule. Using papain for digestion of a 7s rabbit antibody preparation, he obtained two almost identical antigen-binding fragments (Fab) that blocked antigen precipitation by the parent antibody while a third, easily crystallizable fragment (Fc)...

Participants from DPP/DPPOS were assigned to placebo (n=1082) or metformin (n=1073) for 3.2 years, followed by metformin in the metformin group for 9 years. Metformin use was associated with increased risk of vitamin B12 deficiency.

the diagnosis of functional constipation (fc) is usually straightforward. almost 95% of childhood constipation is functional in nature. the remaining 5% can be attributed to wide variety of conditions. many of these etiologies are obvious by history and examination and many have other specific symptoms besides constipation. it is especially important to look for presence of any symptoms or sign...

Previous studies have shown the central role of interleukin 12 (IL-12) in the development of resistance to Leishmania major infection in C3H mice. We now show that during the innate immune response the lymph node cells of L. major-infected C3H mice upregulate the IL-12 receptor on CD4(+), CD8(+), and B220(+) cells. An increase in the ability of the lymph node cells to bind IL-12 correlates with...

Social networks proliferate daily life, many are part of big groups within social networks, many of these groups contain people unknown to you, but with whom you share interests. Some of these shared interest are based on context which has real-time properties (e.g. Who would like to go to a jazz concert during an AI conference). This paper presents a possible method for identifying such subgro...