{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T19:53:39Z","timestamp":1792007619044,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,12,1]],"date-time":"2015-12-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1448928000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Journal of Medicinal Food"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,12]]},"abstract":"\n Since vitamin B\n 12<\/jats:sub>\n occurs in substantial amounts only in foods derived from animals, vegetarians and particularly vegans are at risk of developing deficiencies of this essential vitamin. The chlorella used for this study is a commercially available whole-food supplement, which is believed to contain the physiologically active form of the vitamin. This exploratory open-label study was performed to determine if adding 9\u2009g of\n Chlorella pyrenoidosa<\/jats:italic>\n daily could help mitigate a vitamin B\n 12<\/jats:sub>\n deficiency in vegetarians and vegans. Seventeen vegan or vegetarian adults (26\u201357 years of age) with a known vitamin B\n 12<\/jats:sub>\n deficiency, as evidenced by a baseline serum methylmalonic acid (MMA) level above 270\u2009nmol\/L at screening, but who otherwise appeared healthy were enrolled in the study. Each participant added 9\u2009g of\n C. pyrenoidosa<\/jats:italic>\n to their daily diet for 60\u2009\u00b1\u20095 days and their serum MMA, vitamin B\n 12<\/jats:sub>\n , homocysteine (Hcy) levels as well as mean corpuscular volume (MCV), hemoglobin (Hgb), and hematocrit (Hct) were measured at 30 and 60 days from baseline. After 30 and 60 days, the serum MMA level fell significantly (\n P<\/jats:italic>\n \u2009<\u2009.05) by an average \u223c34%. Fifteen of the 17 (88%) subjects showed at least a 10% drop in MMA. At the same time, Hcy trended downward and serum vitamin B\n 12<\/jats:sub>\n trended upward, while MCV, Hgb, and Hct appeared unchanged. The results of this work suggest that the vitamin B\n 12<\/jats:sub>\n in chlorella is bioavailable and such dietary supplementation is a natural way for vegetarians and vegans to get the vitamin B\n 12<\/jats:sub>\n they need.\n <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1089\/jmf.2015.0056","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,10,20]],"date-time":"2015-10-20T16:39:27Z","timestamp":1445359167000},"page":"1357-1362","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Nutritional Supplementation with\n Chlorella pyrenoidosa<\/i>\n Lowers Serum Methylmalonic Acid in Vegans and Vegetarians with a Suspected Vitamin B\n 12<\/sub>\n Deficiency"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Randall Edward","family":"Merchant","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Virginia Commonwealth University","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Todd W.","family":"Phillips","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Virginia Commonwealth University","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jay","family":"Udani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medicus Research, LLC,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,12,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_3_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3109\/10408369609081009"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-007-2199-9_16"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1373\/clinchem.2006.080382"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_5_2","first-page":"93","article-title":"Effect of the breaking of Chlorella cells on the digestibility of Chlorella protein","volume":"30","author":"Mitsuda H","year":"1977","unstructured":"Mitsuda H, , Nishikawa Y, , Higuchi M, et al.: Effect of the breaking of Chlorella cells on the digestibility of Chlorella protein. J Jpn Soc Food Nutr, 1977; 30:93\u201398.","journal-title":"J Jpn Soc Food Nutr"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0378-8741(88)90145-6"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/iai.53.2.267-271.1986"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00199712"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_9_2","first-page":"302","article-title":"An acidic polysaccharide chlon A, from Chlorella pyrenoidosa. 2. Antitumor activity and immunological response","volume":"34","author":"Komiyama K","year":"1986","unstructured":"Komiyama K, , Hirokawa Y, , Morota T, et al.: An acidic polysaccharide chlon A, from Chlorella pyrenoidosa. 2. Antitumor activity and immunological response. 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Am Fam Physician, 2003; 67:979\u2013986.","journal-title":"Am Fam Physician"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_16_2","first-page":"690","article-title":"Measurement of MMA, homocysteine and methionine in cobalamin and folate deficiencies and homocysteinuria","volume":"128","author":"Ueland PM","year":"2008","unstructured":"Ueland PM, , Schneede J: Measurement of MMA, homocysteine and methionine in cobalamin and folate deficiencies and homocysteinuria. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen, 2008; 128:690\u2013693.","journal-title":"Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_17_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0002-9343(94)90149-X"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_18_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0884533610385707"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_19_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0009-8981(02)00307-8"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_20_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.nutr.24.012003.132440"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_21_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3945\/ajcn.2009.26736Y"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_22_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00394-003-0387-5"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_23_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/jf990541b"}],"container-title":["Journal of Medicinal Food"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1089\/jmf.2015.0056","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1089\/jmf.2015.0056","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1089\/jmf.2015.0056","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T14:23:24Z","timestamp":1777645404000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1089\/jmf.2015.0056"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2015,12]]},"references-count":22,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,12]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1089\/jmf.2015.0056"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1089\/jmf.2015.0056","relation":{},"ISSN":["1096-620X","1557-7600"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1096-620X","type":"print"},{"value":"1557-7600","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2015,12]]}}}