DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN VITAMIN B$sub 12$-DEFICIENT AND FOLIC ACID- DEFICIENT MEGALOBLASTIC ANEMIAS WITH C$sup 14$-HISTIDINE

Journal Article · Mon Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1963 · Blood (U.S.)

OSTI ID:4755967

Fish, M B; Pollycove, M; Feichtmeir, T V

Intermediary metabolism of the monocarbon pool and histidine in normal subjects and patients with megaloblastic anemia was studied by continuous measurement of pulmonary excretion of C/sup 14/O/sub 2/ and urinary excretion of C/sup 14/ after injection of L-histidine-2(ring)-C /sup 14/. Cumulative pulmonary and renal excretion of C/sup 14/ for 1 month by two normal subjects approximates 45% of the amount injected. Within 4 morths after injection of the dose used in this study, the resultant average tissue radiation decreases below the average natural terrestrial and cosmic radiation level. Simuitaneous determination of cumulative 1-hour pulmonary C/sup 14/ excretion and the time of occurrence of maximum C/sup 14/O/sub 2/ specific activity may permit rapid and unequivocal differentiation between folic acid deficiency and vitamin B/sub 12/ deficiency in the pathogenesis of megaloblastic amemia. Folic acid deficiency results in marked diminution of pulmonary C/sup 14/ excretion and marked prolongation of C/sup 14/O/sub 2/specific activity, while both parameters are normal in patients with vitamin B/sub 12/ deficiency and megaloblastic anemia. Measurement during periods of reticulocyte response to either folic acid or vitamin B/sub 12/ demonstrated normal C/sup 14/O/sub 2/specific activity but decreased pulmonary C/sup 14/ excretion. These observations suggest that prolongation of C/sup 14/o/sub 2/specific activity is a sensitive index of folic acid deficiency or block and that if T/sub max/ is normal, pulmonary C/sup 14/ excretion is a sensitive index of the relative partition of the active monocarbon pool between pathways for oxidation and pathways for nucleic acid synthesis. This type of breath analysis seems to provide a quantitative dynamic representation of metabolic function which may be particularly useful in differentinting between the alterations of intermediary metabolism that occur in patients with folic aciddeficient megaloblastic anemia and in patients with vitamin B/sub 12/-deficient megaloblastic anemia. (auth)

• Research Organization: Univ. of California, San Francisco and Univ. of California, Berkeley
• NSA Number: NSA-17-015549
• OSTI ID: 4755967
• Journal Information: Blood (U.S.), Journal Name: Blood (U.S.) Vol. Vol: 21; ISSN BLOOA
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

AIR
AMINO ACIDS
ANEMIA
BIOCHEMISTRY
BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
CARBON
CARBON 14
CARBON DIOXIDE
FOLIC ACID
HISTIDINE
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
LUNGS
MAN
METABOLISM
NUCLEIC ACIDS
OXIDATION
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
QUANTITY RATIO
TRACER TECHNIQUES
VARIATIONS
VITAMIN B GROUP
VITAMIN B-12
VITAMINS