Intestinal Absorption of Vitamin B12 in Liver Cirrhosis

Intestinal absorption of vitamin B12 was studied in ten biopsy-proven cases of liver cirrhosis employing the oral tolerance test, and the results were compared with those obtained in 35 healthy individuals. All the cirrhotic patients were found to absorb the test dose of vitamin B12 very poorly, suggesting that intestinal absorption nutrients in general is also impaired. The clinical implications have been discussed.