Observations on the Etiologic Relationship of Achylia Gastrica to Pernicious Anemia

Abstract

Abstract 1. Vitamin B12a, derived from vitamin B12 by catalytic hydrogenation, is as potent a hematopoietic agent as vitamin B12 when administered parenterally to patients with pernicious anemia in relapse. 2. The hematopoietic activity of vitamin B12a, like that of vitamin B12, and of vitamin B12b, is potentiated by simultaneous oral administration with normal human gastric juice. 3. Observations on one patient suggest that vitamin B12a, like vitamin B12, will arrest the progress of subacute degeneration of the spinal cord in pernicious anemia.