An economic model evaluating the supplementation of folic acid and vitamin B12 given around parturition and in early lactation on dairy farms in Québec, Canada

Different doses of folic acid and vitamin B12 to treat rabbits with deep venous thrombosis and hyperhomocysteinemia

The effects of different doses of folic acid and vitamin B12 on rabbits with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and hyperhomocysteinemia were investigated. In total, 60 New Zealand rabbits were divided into untreated control, low-dose and high-dose groups. After inducing DVT, hemorheology and coagulation indexes were measured 3 and 10 days later. We found that both treatment groups performed better than the control group, and the high-dose performed better than the low-dose. Ten days after thrombosis, the levels of Hcy and D-dimer were lower in the high-dose group. Moreover, the changes of lower extremity deep venous thrombosis were significantly reduced in both high- and low-dose groups, but the high-dose group showed the most improvement. The effective rate of the high-dose group was 100%, higher than the rate in the low-dose and control groups. Overall, high-dose of folic acid and vitamin B12 can significantly improve plasma Hcy, coagulation indexes, and pathological changes in the venous thrombosis of the lower extremity.

Short communication: Factors affecting vitamin B12 concentration in milk of commercial dairy herds: An exploratory study

Only bacteria can synthesize vitamin B12, and this requires adequate Co supply. The natural source of vitamin B12 in human diets comes from animal products, especially those from ruminants. This study aimed to describe variability regarding vitamin B12 concentration in milk among and within commercial dairy herds in early lactation. A secondary objective was to explore potential causes for this variability such as genetic variation and diet characteristics. In total, 399 dairy cows (135 primiparous and 264 multiparous; 386 Holstein and 13 Jersey cows) in 15 commercial herds were involved. Milk samples were taken at 27.4±4.1 and 55.4±4.1d in milk. Neither parity (primiparous vs. multiparous) nor sampling time affected milk concentrations of vitamin B12. Nevertheless, vitamin B12 concentration in milk was highly variable among and within dairy herds. The lowest vitamin B12 concentration in milk of cows was observed in the Jersey herd. Among herds, vitamin B12 concentration in milk ranged from 2,309 to 3,878 pg/mL; one glass (250mL) of milk from those herds would provide between 23 and 40% of the vitamin B12 recommended daily allowance. Among individual cows, however, this provision varied between 16 and 57% of the recommendation. In spite of the limited size of the studied population, the heritability value was 0.23, suggesting that genetic selection could modify milk vitamin B12 concentration. We observed a positive relationship between milk vitamin B12 concentration and dietary acid detergent fiber content and a negative relationship between milk concentration of vitamin B12 and dietary crude protein content.