Low holo-transcobalamin levels are prevalent in vegetarians and is associated with coronary artery disease in Indian population

Abstract

Coronary artery disease (CAD) has been increasing alarmingly in India. We had earlier shown that vitamin B₁₂ deficiency is associated with CAD in Indian population. However, only about a quarter of the total vitamin B₁₂ is internalised in the cells by the proteins transcobalamin II. Vitamin B₁₂-bound transcobalamin II (holotranscobalamin, holoTC) is thus referred to as biologically active B₁₂. In this study, we ascertained the levels of holoTC in 501 CAD cases and 1253 healthy controls and for the first time show that holoTC levels are significantly lower (p = 2.57E-4) in CAD (26.81 pmol/l) cases as compared to controls (29.97 pmol/l).

Keywords:

• Coronary artery disease
• holo-transcobalamin
• vitamin B12

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Funding information

We acknowledge the financial assistance from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt of India, India under the XII FYP project titled “Centre for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Research (BSC0122)”. TB and VST acknowledge the senior research fellowship from CSIR.