Abstract
The vitamin B12 levels of the maternal and fetal sera on 40 delivery cases, were assayed microbiologically, employing Lactobacillus leichmannii. The serum vitamin B12 content of the 14 non-pregnant women were also determined similarly as control.
It was found that the vitamin B12 level of the maternal serum was considerably lower than that of the non-pregnant women, which is, in turn, still lower than that of the fetal serum.
These findings confirm the previous observations, which suggest that vitamin B12 may be drawn considerably from the maternal circulation to the fetal one.
The possible explanations for this phenomen are discussed.
The authors wish to express their sincere tanks to Prof. KI YUNG LEE for his kind guidance and valuable advice.
