Effect of vitamin B12 deficiency on neurodevelopment in infants: current knowledge and possible mechanisms: Nutrition Reviews©, Vol. 66, No. 5
Abstract
Severe vitamin B(12) deficiency produces a cluster of neurological symptoms in infants, including irritability, failure to thrive, apathy, anorexia, and developmental regression, which respond remarkably rapidly to supplementation. The underlying mechanisms may involve delayed myelination or demyelination of nerves; alteration in the S-adenosylmethionine:S-adenosylhomocysteine ratio; imbalance of neurotrophic and neurotoxic cytokines; and/or accumulation of lactate in brain cells. This review summarizes the current knowledge concerning infantile vitamin B(12) deficiency, including a pooled analysis of case studies of infants born to mothers with untreated pernicious anemia or a strict vegetarian lifestyle and a discussion of the mechanisms that may underlie the manifestations of deficiency.
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Vitamin B-12 is required for cell division together with folate.
“Together with folate, vitamin B-12 is required for cell division (6).”
From Vitamin B-12 status in infancy is positively associated with development and cognitive functioning 5 y later in Nepalese children (2017) · cites this paper as [6]
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- Authors
- Dror, D. K., & Allen, L. H.
- Affiliations
- Western Human Nutrition Research Center (US)
- ORCID
- Allen, Lindsay H
- Venue
- Nutrition Reviews
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2008-05-01
- Volume
- 66
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 250-255
- ISSN
- 0029-6643 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2140719667
- Cited by
- 473
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 26 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 35 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 2.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Nutrition Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of California, Davis
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Folate and B Vitamins Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Porphyrin Metabolism and Disorders
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Clinical Biochemistry › Metabolism and Genetic Disorders
- Keywords
- vitamin B12 deficiency, brain development, developmental regression, myelination, demyelination, S-adenosylmethionine, S-adenosylhomocysteine, cytokines, lactate accumulation, pernicious anemia, vegetarian diet
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anemia, Pernicious, Brain, Developmental Disabilities, Failure to Thrive, Female, Humans, Infant, Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Infant, Newborn, Male, Mothers, Nervous System Diseases, Pregnancy, Psychomotor Disorders, Diet, Vegetarian, Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin B 12, Vitamin B 12 Deficiency
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