Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin found only in animal products or fortified foods. It is metabolically linked to folate metabolism and is required for DNA synthesis, myelination, and healthy growth and development. This session will provide an overview of the current understanding of the role of vitamin B12 in growth and development and the clinical and public health implications for the assessment, prevention, and management of vitamin B12 deficiency and its related health outcomes in early life. The speakers in this session will summarize the global prevalence and determinants of vitamin B12 deficiency in early life across both high- and low-income countries. A critical appraisal of evidence from recent randomized controlled trials on vitamin B12 supplementation in early life will be provided and key methodological limitations inherent to nutrition trials will be discussed. Metabolomic profiling of vitamin B12 status and the methodological considerations in studying mother-infant dyads will also be discussed. Learning Objectives: 1. To provide an overview of the global prevalence and determinants of vitamin B12 deficiency in early life across both high- and low-income countries. 2. To provide a critical appraisal of the evidence from randomized controlled trials on vitamin B12 supplementation in early life. 3. To describe the importance and state-of-the-art targeted metabolomic analyses of vitamin B12 in mothers and their infants.
Pediatrics
UBC/BC Children's Hospital Research Institute
Dr Angela Devlin is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and the Associate Director of Foundational Science at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Her research program combines foundational pre-clinical studies in mouse models and stem cells and clinical studies focused on understanding: i) the pathophysiology and trajectory of all forms of diabetes (type 1, type 2, genetic) in children; and ii) nutrient requirements and metabolism during development, with a particular focus on understanding the biology of B-vitamins. Her research program is supported by funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada, and the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.