B12 METABOLISM IN HUMANS By NICOLE AURORA LEAL A ...
B12 METABOLISM IN HUMANS By NICOLE AURORA LEAL A ...
B12 METABOLISM IN HUMANS By NICOLE AURORA LEAL A ...
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CHAPTER 1<br />
<strong>IN</strong>TRODUCTION<br />
History of Cobalamin<br />
In 1925, Whipple and colleagues discovered that a diet of liver aided in the<br />
formation of blood cells in iron-deficient dogs. The next year, Minot and Murphy (Minot<br />
and Murphy 1926) were the first to document that patients with severe pernicious anemia<br />
(a disease that affects the formation of red blood cells) were successfully treated with a<br />
special diet consisting mainly of liver. Eight years later (in 1934) Whipple, Minot, and<br />
Murphy were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for their work on<br />
liver therapy against anemias.<br />
Following these studies, Castle (Kass 1978) concluded that the treatment of<br />
pernicious anemia by this specialized diet was dependent on the absorption of an<br />
extrinsic anti-pernicious anemia factor by an intrinsic protein in gastric juice. It is now<br />
known that Castle’s extrinsic anti-pernicious anemia factor is vitamin <strong>B12</strong> and the<br />
intrinsic factor is a specific cobalamin transporter (synthesized by the stomach) that was<br />
shown to enhance the curing effect by vitamin <strong>B12</strong> (Kass 1978). In 1948, two research<br />
groups led by Folkers and Smith independently isolated the red crystalline anti-pernicious<br />
anemia factor from bovine liver, and proposed the name vitamin <strong>B12</strong> (Rickes et al. 1948,<br />
Smith and Parker 1948). The isolation of vitamin <strong>B12</strong> inspired collaborative efforts<br />
between two laboratories (led by Alexander Todd and Dorothy Hodgkin) to elucidate its<br />
chemical structure. After 6 years, the crystal structure was resolved and finalized in the<br />
1