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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Davis, California » Western Human Nutrition Research Center » Obesity and Metabolism Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #342468
Title: Correlations between maternal, breast milk, and infant vitamin B12 concentrations among mother-infant dyads in Vancouver, Canada and Pry Veng, Cambodia: an exploratory analysis

Author
item CHEBAYA, PHILIP - University Of British Columbia
item KARAKOCHUK, CRYSTAL - University Of British Columbia
item MARCH, KAITLIN - University Of British Columbia
item CHEN, NANCY - University Of British Columbia
item STAMM, ROSEMARY - University Of Otago
item KROEUN, HOU - Helen Keller International (HKI), United States
item SOPHONNEARY, PRAK - Ministry Of Health
item BORATH, MAM - Ministry Of Planning-Cambodia
item Shahab-Ferdows, Setti
item HAMPEL, DANIELA - University Of California
item BARR, SUSAN - University Of British Columbia
item LAMERS, YVONNE - University Of British Columbia
item HOUGHTON, LISA - University Of Otago
item Allen, Lindsay - A
item GREEN, TIMONTHY - University Of Adelaide
item WHITFIELD, KYLY - Mount Saint Vincent University, Nova Scotia

Submitted to: Nutrients
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/9/2017
Publication Date: 3/12/2017
Citation: Chebaya, P., Karakochuk, C.D., March, K.M., Chen, N.N., Stamm, R.A., Kroeun, H., Sophonneary, P., Borath, M., Shahab-Ferdows, S., Hampel, D., Barr, S.I., Lamers, Y., Houghton, L.A., Allen, L.H., Green, T., Whitfield, K.C. 2017. Correlations between maternal, breast milk, and infant vitamin B12 concentrations among mother-infant dyads in Vancouver, Canada and Pry Veng, Cambodia: an exploratory analysis. Nutrients. 9(3):270. doi: 10.3390/nu.9030270.

Interpretive Summary: Vitamin B12 is important to the fetus and infant for health and development. If B12-rich foods, such as animal source foods, are consumed at a low rate, the infant will be as risk for B12 deficiency. We compared B12 statuses of mother-infant pairs, including breast milk B12 concentrations, in Vancouver and Pry Veng. Unlike the Cambodian mothers, the Canadian mothers consumed vitamin B12 containing multi-micronutrients during pregnancy and lactation. Independent from the geographic origin and supplementation, the majority of participants showed an adequate B12 status. A relationship among mother, milk, and infant B12 was found in the Canadian sub-set, while the Cambodian sub-set only showed a relationship between mother and infant B12 concentrations.

Technical Abstract: Vitamin B12 plays an essential role in fetal and infant development. In regions where animal source food consumption is low and perinatal supplementation is uncommon, infants are at risk of vitamin B12 deficiency. In this secondary analysis, we measured total vitamin B12 concentrations in maternal and infant serum/plasma and breast milk among two samples of mother–infant dyads in Canada (assessed at 8 weeks post-partum) and in Cambodia (assessed between 3–27 weeks post-partum). Canadian mothers (n = 124) consumed a daily vitamin B12-containing multiple micronutrient supplement throughout pregnancy and lactation; Cambodian mothers (n = 69) were unsupplemented. The maternal, milk, and infant total vitamin B12 concentrations (as geometric means (95% CI) in pmol/L) were as follows: in Canada, 698 (648,747), 452 (400, 504), and 506 (459, 552); in Cambodia, 620 (552, 687), 317 (256, 378), and 357 (312, 402). The majority of participants were vitamin B12 sufficient (serum/plasma total B12 > 221 pmol/L): 99% and 97% of mothers and 94% and 84% of infants in Canada and Cambodia, respectively. Among the Canadians, maternal, milk, and infant vitamin B12 were all correlated (p < 0.05); only maternal and infant vitamin B12 were correlated among the Cambodians (p < 0.001)