Sublingual spray treatment of vitamin B12 deficiency in children

Abstract

Objective: Vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to serious health problems both in children and adult. Intramuscular injection therapy is applied as the gold standard in the treatment of vitamin B12 deficiency. There are also oral, nasal, and sublingual spray treatment methods. In this study, we aimed to show the efficacy of sublingual spray treatment of vitamin B12 deficiency in children. Materials and Methods: Forty-five pediatric patients (25 boys, 20 girls), aged 9-36 months with serum cobalamin concentrations less than 200 pg/mL, were treated with sublingual vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin) spray. All patients were treated for four months by giving 500 μg oral spray daily for the first week, every other day for the next one week, two days a week for the next two weeks and then once a week for four months. Vitamin B12 levels were checked after four months. Results: Post-treatment vitamin B12 values were significantly higher than pre-treatment values (p<0.001). Vitamin B12 levels increased from 161.58±32.98 pg/mL to 427.44±148.58 pg/mL. After the treatment, the vitamin B12 level of all patients was found to be >200 pg/mL, except for only two patients. Vitamin B12 levels returned to normal in 96% of the patients with a sublingual spray treatment. Conclusions: Data from this study indicate that sublingual vitamin B12(methylcobalamin) spray (500μg) for four months is effective for treatment of children with vitamin B12 deficiency. Sublingual spray that is easier and more practical to use can be preferred for children with vitamin B12 deficiency instead of parenteral and oral vitamin B12 therapy.