Association between Hypercobalaminemia and Chronic Diseases in Outpatients: A Retrospective Case-Control Study

Hypercobalaminemia in Chronic Disease Outpatients

Abstract

Background: Several studies have shown that high levels of Cobalamin (vitamin B12) are associated with specific diseases, such as solid cancers, chronic liver diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and others. In this study, we aimed to compare the rates the vitamin B12 in adults with and without chronic diseases.

Materials and Methods In the study, 68 (53.1%) participants with chronic disease and 60 (46.9%) participants without chronic disease were included in the study among 128 patients aged 35 and over with high vitamin B12 levels who applied to the Family Medicine Polyclinics as outpatients for a period of 1 year. Patients with vitamin B12 levels of ≥1000 pg/mL were classified as having very high levels, while those with levels between 663 and 999 pg/mL were classified as having high levels.

Results: In our study, a significant relationship was found between the presence of chronic disease and high vitamin B12 levels (p=0.017). Among chronic diseases, high levels of vitamin B12 have been found to be more significant in patients with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) (p<0.006). According to the categorization of high vitamin B12 in itself, it has been observed that vitamin B12 levels are significantly at very high levels in individuals with DM. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the risk of DM diagnosis was 0.67 times higher in those with elevated vitamin B12.

A significant relationship has been found between high levels of vitamin B12 and those with chronic diseases, especially DM.

Conclusions: It has been shown that individuals with common chronic diseases have significantly high levels of vitamin B12. We observed that very high levels of vitamin B12 are a risk factor for chronic diseases, including Type 2 DM.