Gastric function and absorption of vitamin B12 in children with celiac disease.

Gastric acid secretion in nineteen children with celiac disease remained almost unchanged and the level of fasting serum gastrin was comparable with that of a control group of the same age. The absorption of vitamin B12 was significantly decreased, most clearly in the infants with celiac disease as compared with their controls. The serum B12 level, however, was decreased only in the oldest children. The results suggest that the mucosal lesion in the small intestine is most extensive in the youngest children, but the absorption defect of vitamin B12 becomes clinically significant only after a long duration of the disease and not in childhood.