Vitamin B12 Levels of Subjects Aged 0-24 Year(s) in Konya, Turkey

Research reports indicate that vitamin B₁₂ levels show racial differences, which suggests that using the reference ranges of varied populations may lead to inaccurate results. This study aimed to determine normal serum levels of vitamin B₁₂ among children and young people in the Konya region of Turkey. It evaluated 1,109 samples; 54 were from cord-blood and 1,055 were from healthy subjects aged 0-24 year(s), who were admitted to primary healthcare centres. The normal reference levels obtained for vitamin B₁₂ at 2.5-97.5 percentile (P_2.5-P_97.5) range were 127-606 pg/mL for girls, 127-576 pg/mL for boys, and 127-590 pg/mL for the entire study group. The reported reference values for vitamin B₁₂ in other studies were higher than the current results. Vitamin B₁₂ levels vary from country to country; comparisons between countries may not be valid, and normal levels for each population should be obtained.