Biomaterial Database

Vitamin B-12 status in a macrobiotic community. 1991

D R Miller, and B L Specker, and M L Ho, and E J Norman

Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester.

Vitamin B-12 status was assessed in a group of 110 adults and 42 children from a macrobiotic community in New England. Dietary and anthropometric information also was obtained. Fifty-one percent of the adults had low concentrations of serum vitamin B-12, which inversely correlated with duration of macrobiotic diet practice. Urinary methylmalonic acid (MMA) excretion was inversely correlated with serum vitamin B-12, and 30% of adults sampled had high urinary MMA. Fifty-five percent of children had high urinary MMA, and MMA was higher in the group that consumed a macrobiotic diet during their entire lifetime. Children were relatively short in stature and weight, and decreased stature was associated with high urinary MMA. In both adults and children vitamin B-12 status was better with more consumption of dairy products or with higher tertile of reported frequencies of vitamin B-12 consumption of various animal products. Vitamin B-12 status appeared to be unrelated to consumption of several vegetarian foods.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D008297	Male		Males
D008764	Methylmalonic Acid	A malonic acid derivative which is a vital intermediate in the metabolism of fat and protein. Abnormalities in methylmalonic acid metabolism lead to methylmalonic aciduria. This metabolic disease is attributed to a block in the enzymatic conversion of methylmalonyl CoA to succinyl CoA.	Acid, Methylmalonic
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D009792	Oceans and Seas	A great expanse of continuous bodies of salt water which together cover more than 70 percent of the earth's surface. Seas may be partially or entirely enclosed by land, and are smaller than the five oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic).	Seas,Oceans,Seas and Oceans
D009994	Osmolar Concentration	The concentration of osmotically active particles in solution expressed in terms of osmoles of solute per liter of solution. Osmolality is expressed in terms of osmoles of solute per kilogram of solvent.	Ionic Strength,Osmolality,Osmolarity,Concentration, Osmolar,Concentrations, Osmolar,Ionic Strengths,Osmolalities,Osmolar Concentrations,Osmolarities,Strength, Ionic,Strengths, Ionic
D012044	Regression Analysis	Procedures for finding the mathematical function which best describes the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. In linear regression (see LINEAR MODELS) the relationship is constrained to be a straight line and LEAST-SQUARES ANALYSIS is used to determine the best fit. In logistic regression (see LOGISTIC MODELS) the dependent variable is qualitative rather than continuously variable and LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS are used to find the best relationship. In multiple regression, the dependent variable is considered to depend on more than a single independent variable.	Regression Diagnostics,Statistical Regression,Analysis, Regression,Analyses, Regression,Diagnostics, Regression,Regression Analyses,Regression, Statistical,Regressions, Statistical,Statistical Regressions
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D003611	Dairy Products	Raw and processed or manufactured milk and milk-derived products. These are usually from cows (bovine) but are also from goats, sheep, reindeer, and water buffalo.	Dairy Product,Product, Dairy,Products, Dairy