Erythrocyte vitamin B12 activity in lactovegetarian pregnant Indian women.

Plasma and erythrocyte vitamin B12 levels were studied in pregnant Indian women consuming very little food of animal origin and compared with healthy non-pregnant women from the same dietetic group. The comparison of the mean values for routine haematological parameters revealed distinct fall in haemoglobin, packed cell volume, plasma vitamin B12, and albumin levels in pregnant women. However, the mean erythrocyte vitamin B12 levels in pregnant women with haemoglobin of more than 10 g/dl did not differ significantly from the corresponding mean observed in non-pregnant subjects. It seems that in normal pregnancy, the fall in erythrocyte vitamin B12 is much less marked than the fall in plasma levels of this vitamin.