Blood, 1959, Vol. 14, No. 12, pp. 1269-1279.
© 1959 American Society of Hematology, Inc.
Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid Metabolism in
Hookworm-Infected Patients
MIGUEL LAYRISSE 1,
NORMA BLUMENFELD 1,
IRIS DUGARTE 1, and
MARCEL ROCHE 1
1 El Centro de Investigaciones del Banco Municipal de Sangre, Caracas, Instituto
de Investigaciones Médicas (Fundación Luis Roche), e Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas.
Studies on the metabolism of B12 and folic acid were performed in
patients with heavy hookworm infection and severe iron deficiency anemia,
and in patients with light infection, noninfected patients and normal subjects.
Patients with heavy hookworm infection showed a marked decrease of
the serum B12 as compared with normal subjects. Eight of 21 cases studied
showed values of serum B12 below 100 µµg./ml.
Twelve of 13 patients with severe hookworm infection showed impairment
of the pteroylglutamic acid intestinal absorption; however, none of them
exhibited megaloblastic proliferation in the bone marrow. They all recovered
with iron therapy alone. The patients with light infection and the noninfected patients with iron deficiency anemia did not demonstrate significant
differences from the normal subjects studied.
Submitted on January 19, 1959
Accepted on May 10, 1959
