THE PREVALENCE OF VITAMIN B12 DEFICIENCY IN HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS

Volume 13 , Issue 4 , July 2025 , Pages 423-430

Authors

Alaa H. A. Alkrush 1 ; Sarhad Ahmed Mahmood 2

1 College of Medicine, University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

2 Dialysis Department, Ministry of Health< Sulaeimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

DOI logo 10.17656/jsmc.10437

Keywords

Abstract

Background
Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin in several normal cellular functions. Low vitamin B12 has been
associated with high concentrations of homocysteine and can lead to health complications. In addition to
metabolic alteration and restricted food products allowable in renal failure patients, vitamin B12 is actively
removed by hemodialysis with high fl ux membranes.
Objective
To detect the prevalence of vitamin B12 levels in hemodialysis patients and its relation to the duration of
dialysis and daily protein intake.
Method
This cross-section observational multicenter study was conducted on 169 hemodialysis patients in four
Sulaimani Governorate centres. A questionnaire used to gather data included patient, dialysis, diet, and
medication information. Blood investigation was taken to detect the vitamin B12 level and mean corpuscular
volume.
Results
 Twenty-nine patients (17.1 %) had vitamin B12 defi ciency. High fl ux fi lter hemodialysis was not used in all the
centres included in this study. No cases with four hours of dialysis sessions had vitamin B12 defi ciency. All
the patients were on sub-optimum protein diet restriction. No cases of vitamin B12 defi ciency were present
in patients receiving protein of 0.6-0.7 gm/kg/day. All our patients had normochromic normocytic anaemia.
Conclusion
Our patients have an average percentage of vitamin B12 defi ciency compared to other centres worldwide. The
main causes of vitamin B12 defi ciency in our patients were the sub-optimum restriction of protein diet and the
sub-optimum dialysis.

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  • First online26 July 2025
  • Published at26 July 2025

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