Evaluation of Serum Vitamin B12 Level and its Effect on Red Cell Parameters in Celiac Disease Patients

Abstract

Celiac disease is one of the most common lifelong disorders. It is genetic autoimmune disorder occur when the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. Vitamin B12 malabsorption are common in celiac disease as the proximal small intestine is predominantly affected. We aimed to study serum vitamin B12 levels in celiac disease patients. This was a cross sectional study, conducted, to estimate the serum levels of vitamin B12 among 40 Sudanese patients with celiac disease; their age range from 2-43 years .Ten (25%) of the patients were males and 30 (75%) were females; all were diagnosed by serological test and endoscopy and referred at Ibn Sinaa hospital, in the period from April to Augest 2016. About 3 ml of venous blood sample were collected by venipuncture technique from each patient, and then allowed to clot to obtain serum .The serum levels of vitamin B12 were measured using immunoassay analyzer (Cobas e411). The result showed that, frequency of B12 deficiency among celiac disease patients were 12.5% (5/40), one (2.5%) was male and four (10%) were females. There was no statistically significant correlation between vitamin B12 deficiency and each of gender, age and duration of disease. There was statistically significant correlation between vitamin B12 deficiency and dietary program commitment (P value = 0.017). No significant correlation was found between serum B12 level and RBCs parameters. The results of this study concluded that, 12.5 % of celiac disease patients were deficient of vitamin B12 and there was statistically significant correlation between vitamin B12 deficiency and dietary program commitment.