Vitamin B-12 level

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Overview

Risks

Results

Vitamin B-12 level

Normal Values:

Normal values are 200-900 pg/ml (picograms per milliliter).

What abnormal results mean:

Values of less than 100 pg/ml indicate a significant deficiency of vitamin B-12, with symptoms likely to be present or develop.

Causes of vitamin B-12 deficiency include:

Inadequate intake (rare except with a strict vegetarian diet)
Malabsorption diseases (for example, celiac disease and sprue)
Lack of intrinsic factor
Hypermetabolic state (for example, with hyperthyroidism)
Pregnancy

Increased vitamin B-12 levels are uncommon, because normally excessive B-12 is excreted in the urine. However, excessive B-12 may occur with disorders that affect the levels of proteins that attach to vitamin B-12 in the blood. These disorders include:

Liver disease (such as cirrhosis or hepatitis)
Myeloproliferative disorders (for example, myelocytic leukemia)

Additional conditions under which the test may be performed:

Review Date: 2/4/2005
Reviewed By: Rita Nanda, M.D., Department of Hematology/Oncology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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