Cobalamin (Vitamin B 12 ) Analogs Are Absent in Plasma of Fruit Bats Exposed to Nitrous Oxide 1

Abstract

Abstract

Fruit bats are an animal model for the neurologic damage which occurs in vitamin B₁₂-deficient humans. Cobalamin (vitamin B₁₂) analogs were not detected in the plasma of fruit bats treated with nitrous oxide (N₂O), which inactivates cobalamin. This observation does not lend support to the suggestion that the neurological changes associated with cobalamin inactivation by N₂O and/or cobalamin deficiency per se may be related to the accumulation of cobalamin analogs. However, although the plasma of control fruit bats lacked analogs, we did find analogs in their livers, at levels about 10% of total liver corrinoids, similar to human liver analog levels.