Application of a simple immunoadsorption assay for the measurement of saturated and unsaturated transcobalamin II and R-binders.

In this paper an immunoadsorption method for the selective measurement of the concentrations of saturated and unsaturated transcobalamin II and R-binders in human plasma is presented. With this assay the concentrations of saturated transcobalamin II found in the plasma of 70 normal individuals ranged from 20-220 pmol per litre, with a mean of 70 pmol/l. The concentration of R-binders, carrying cobalamin, ranged from 87-491 pmol/l (mean 195 pmol/l). The 33-203 pmol/l (mean 111 pmol/l) of cobalamin analogues were found to be almost exclusively bound to the R-binder fraction. The level of saturated binding proteins is not, or only marginally, influenced by the absorption of ingested cobalamin, even with an oral dose of 15 micrograms. The concentration of transcobalamin II-bound cobalamin is apparently not determined by the availability of unsaturated binding protein. On the contrary, a positive correlation was found between the R-binder-cobalamin concentration and total R-binder level. These observations suggest that the concentration of transcobalamin II-bound cobalamin is primarily determined by the concentration of cobalamin in the tissues.