The Change of Urinary Methylmalonic Acid Excretion and the Effect of Vitamin B_<12>-deprivation in the Rat

Abstract

To study the effect, of vitamin B_<12>-deprivation on methylmalonic acid (MMA) excretion in urine, weanling rats were fed on vitamin B_<12>-deprived diet for 130 days. Growth rate and hematological change of peripheral blood were also observed. Furthermore, urinary MMA was determined by isotachophoresis. Growth of the group fed on the vitamin B_<12>-deprived diet was retarded, and decreased in food intake and food efficiency. Red blood corpuscle, hemoglobin and hematocrit value of peripheral blood were decreased compared with vitamin B_<12>-supplemented group. The determination of MMA by isotachophoresis, that was reported previously, was compared with colorimetric method, and this new method was expected to be used as simple assay procudure of urinary MMA. As the result of the MMA determination, it was observed that urinary MMA excretion was increased with the progress of experimental period.