Vitamin B 12 Assay – are we on Track?

Abstract

Vitamin B12 assay is one of the most frequently ordered tests particularly as a part of regular medical checkups. The deficiency is rampant in vegetarian population. It is of immense importance that laboratories establish their own reference interval (RI) of analyte specially Vitamin B12 as a diagnosis of Vitamin B12 deficiency based on RI of kit insert inadvertently leads to unnecessary treatment or work up. A blind reliance on RI of kit insert should be discouraged as they do not take into account population characteristics and do not truly reflect RI specific to the population under study.