Vitamin B(12) Levels of Subjects Aged 0-24 Year(s) in Konya, Turkey

Research reports indicate that vitamin B(12) levels show racial differences, which suggests that using the reference ranges of varied populations may lead to inaccurate results. This study aimed to determine normal serum levels of vitamin B(12) among children and young people in the Konya region of Turkey. It evaluated 1,109 samples; 54 were from cord-blood and 1,055 were from healthy subjects aged 0-24 year(s), who were admitted to primary healthcare centres. The normal reference levels obtained for vitamin B(12) at 2.5-97.5 percentile (P(2.5)-P(97.5)) range were 127-606 pg/mL for girls, 127-576 pg/mL for boys, and 127-590 pg/mL for the entire study group. The reported reference values for vitamin B(12) in other studies were higher than the current results. Vitamin B(12) levels vary from country to country; comparisons between countries may not be valid, and normal levels for each population should be obtained.