Oral versus intramuscular cobalamin treatment in megaloblastic anemia: a single-center, prospective, randomized, open-label study.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) in the context of anemia in this randomized controlled trial publication.

This study assessed the effects and cost of p.o. versus i.m. cobalamin treatment in patients with megaloblastic anemia due to cobalamin deficiency.

Why It Was Studied

Cobalamin (vitamin B12) deficiency, the most common cause of megaloblastic anemia, is treated with intramuscular (IM) cobalamin.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, middle-aged adults, older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

This was a 90-day, prospective, randomized, open-label study conducted at the Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, Adnan Menderes University Research and Practice Hospital (Aydin, Turkey).

Patients were assessed for the presence of reticulocytosis between treatment days 5 and 10 until it was detected.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized and open-label study.

Because people in this Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Being open-label, the Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) study did not mask who received what.

The Mini-Mental State Examination was used before and after the B12 therapy for cognitive function assessment and 125-Hz diapozone was used for vibration threshold testing.

Neurologic sensory assessment, including soft-touch and pinprick examinations, was used to identify neuropathy at baseline and study end.

Tolerability was assessed using laboratory tests and patient interview.

Cost was assessed using the cost of the study drug and of the injection.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Anemia, Megaloblastic, Hemoglobins, Reticulocyte Count, Vitamin B 12 and Vitamin B 12 Deficiency.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and open-label study of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) in people with anemia.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 10 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2003 (Clinical therapeutics), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) compound page, Anemia research.