Diagnostic performances of urinary methylmalonic acid/creatinine ratio in vitamin b12 deficiency

Sopak Supakul, Floris Chabrun, Steve Genebrier, Maximilien N’guyen, Guillaume Valarche, Arthur Derieppe, Adeline Villoteau, Valentin Lacombe, Geoffrey Urbanski

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Sole measurement of plasma vitamin B12 is no longer enough to identify vitamin B12 (B12) deficiency. When plasma vitamin B12 is in the low-normal range, especially between 201 and 350 ng/L, B12 deficiency should be assessed by measurements of plasma homocysteine and/or plasma methylmalonic acid (MMA). However, these biomarkers also accumulate during renal impairment, leading to a decreased specificity for B12 deficiency. In such cases, urinary methylmalonic acid/creatinine ratio (uMMA/C) could be of interest, due to the stable urinary excretion of MMA. The objectives were to evaluate the influence of renal impairment on uMMA/C compared to plasma homocysteine and plasma methylmalonic acid, and to determine the diagnostic performances of uMMA/C in the diagnosis of B12 deficiency. We prospectively studied 127 patients with a plasma B12 between 201 and 350 ng/L. We noticed that uMMA/C was not dependent on renal function (p = 0.34), contrary to plasma homocysteine and plasma methylmalonic acid. uMMA/C showed a perspective diagnostic performance (AUC 0.71 [95% CI: 0.62–0.80]) and the threshold of 1.45 umol/mmol presented a high degree of specificity (87.9% [95% CI: 72.0–98.9]). In conclusion, uMMA/C is a promising biomarker to assess vitamin B12 status in doubtful cases, notably during renal impairment.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2335
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Clinical Medicine
Volume9
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 08-2020
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Medicine

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