Clinical Chemistry Link to Randox Laboratories Web Site
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Clinical Chemistry 38: 493-495, 1992;
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit an electronic Letter to
the Editor about this paper
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hagelskjaer, L.
Right arrow Articles by Rasmussen, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hagelskjaer, L.
Right arrow Articles by Rasmussen, K.

Clinical Chemistry, Vol 38, 493-495, Copyright © 1992 by American Association for Clinical Chemistry

Methylmalonic acid concentration in serum not affected in hepatic disease

L Hagelskjaer and K Rasmussen
University Department of Infectious Diseases, Marselisborg Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.

Accumulation of methylmalonic acid may provide an early clue to deficiency of cobalamin (vitamin B12) in tissue. Metabolic abnormalities involving precursors of methylmalonic acid are frequently observed in patients with hepatic diseases. To establish whether methylmalonic acid accumulates and thereby gives false-positive test results for cobalamin deficiency, we measured the concentration of methylmalonic acid in serum of patients with various hepatic diseases. Many of the patients had increased concentrations of cobalamin in serum. In serum from 70 patients, the mean concentration of methylmalonic acid (252, SE 25 nmol/L) did not differ significantly from that found in healthy subjects (211, SE 12 nmol/L). We conclude that the assay of methylmalonic acid in serum may be useful for evaluating cobalamin status in hepatic disease with functional cobalamin deficiency despite an artificially increased normal or high concentration of cobalamin in serum.




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1992 by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry.