Plasma cobalamin and folate and their metabolic markers methylmalonic acid and total homocysteine among Egyptian children before and after nutritional supplementation with the probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus in yoghurt matrix.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12), published as a randomized controlled trial.

To evaluate the biopotency of the viable probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus (La1) in yoghurt matrix consumed by Egyptian children on their plasma vitamin B12 and folate levels, and their metabolic markers methylmalonic acid (MMA) and total homocysteine (t-Hcy).

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as children, both men and women.

A randomized nutritional supplementation trial (42 days duration) was performed in free-living children of both sexes (11 years old).

The La1 in yoghurt matrix was administered to provide 1012 colony-forming units/subject/day.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized 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.

Blood sampling for the analysis of plasma vitamin B12, folate and t-Hcy was performed by standardized methods.

Five-hour urine collection was used for the analysis of MMA and t-Hcy.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Chi-Square Distribution, Dietary Supplements, Egypt, Folic Acid, Homocysteine, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Methylmalonic Acid.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12).

Its findings take up roughly 6 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2006 (International journal of food sciences and nutrition), a journal based in England.

More context: the Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) compound page, all human trials.