Vitamin B12

Protect from sunlight
 

VB12

B12
 

1.0 mL collected in a SST (serum seprator-gold top tube)

0.5 mL

Tiger top (SST)
Red top

Plasma - Na Heparin
Plasma - Li Heparin

Plasma –EDTA (Lavender)

Patient should be fasting.

Refrigerated or on ice packs.
Protect from sunlight
 

Room Temperature: 2 hours at 20-25°C
Refrigerated: 2 days at 2-8°C
Frozen: 8 weeks at ­20°C, Freeze only once.

Samples not labeled with complete first and last name and date of birth.
Grossly hemolyzed

Sun-Sat

Same day

Samples should not be taken from patients receiving therapy with high biotin doses (i.e. > 5 mg/day) until at least 8 hours following the last biotin administration.

232 - 1245 pg/mL    

 

Nutritional and macrocytic anemias can be caused by a deficiency of vitamin B₁₂. This deficiency can result from diets devoid of meat and bacterial products, from alcoholism, or from structural/functional damage to digestive or absorptive processes (forms of pernicious anemia). Malabsorption is the major cause of this deficiency through pancreatic deficiency, gastric atrophy or gastrectomy, intestinal damage, loss of intestinal vitamin B₁₂ binding protein (intrinsic factor), production of autoantibodies directed against intrinsic factor, or related causes. This vitamin is necessary for normal metabolism, DNA synthesis, and red blood cell regeneration.