engleski

Vitamin B12 intake and status in Croatian celiac patients on a gluten-free diet

Background and objectives: Adequate vitamin B12 status is necessary for many biological functions in the body. It is well known that patents with untreated celiac disease have low serum vitamin B12. However, inadequate serum vitamin B12 was also observed among celiac patients adhering gluten-free diet. Since gluten-free diet excludes only plant origin foods which contain gluten, the food of animal origin, as a good dietary source of vitamin B12, should not be reduced in celiac patients on a gluten free diet. The aim of this study is to determine vitamin B12 intake and it’s correlation with vitamin B12 status in celiac patients adhering gluten-free diet. Methods: The survey was carried out on a 33 celiac patients (19-69 years) adhering gluten-free diet in average 8.9 years, who were not taking vitamin B supplements. Vitamin B12 intake was calculated based on a seven-day food record using food composition tables. Fasting venous blood samples were drawn from all subjects to determine serum Vitamin B12 concentration by radioimmunoassay. Results: Median intake of vitamin B12 was 3.3 µg/day and in all subjects exceeded 100 % EAR (102-597 % EAR). Although none of the subjects had inadequate vitamin B12 intake suboptimal status of vitamin B12 (<208 pg/mL) was found in 18 % of subjects. Significant positive correlation was found between vitamin B12 intake and status (p<0.05). Conclusions: Long life gluten-free diet is necessary for celiac patients to prevent malabsorption ; however it seems that these patients are still at risk for some nutritional deficiency, such as vitamin B12, even after long adherence to a gluten free-diet. Monitoring of Vitamin B12 status should be a routine even in celiac patients on a long life gluten-free diet.

celiac disease; Vitamin B12

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