{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,12]],"date-time":"2026-09-12T02:26:53Z","timestamp":1789180013404,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,12]],"date-time":"2017-03-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1489276800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004828","name":"Grand Challenges Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Stars in Global Health Round VI Phase I grant (S6 0490-01-10)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Stars in Global Health Round VI Phase I grant (S6 0490-01-10)"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004828","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000024","name":"Canadian Institutes of Health Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000024","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"International Development Research Centre Doctoral Research Award"},{"name":"Canadian Institutes of Health Research Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Vitamin B12 plays an essential role in fetal and infant development. In regions where animal source food consumption is low and perinatal supplementation is uncommon, infants are at risk of vitamin B12 deficiency. In this secondary analysis, we measured total vitamin B12 concentrations in maternal and infant serum\/plasma and breast milk among two samples of mother\u2013infant dyads in Canada (assessed at 8 weeks post-partum) and in Cambodia (assessed between 3\u201327 weeks post-partum). Canadian mothers (n = 124) consumed a daily vitamin B12-containing multiple micronutrient supplement throughout pregnancy and lactation; Cambodian mothers (n = 69) were unsupplemented. The maternal, milk, and infant total vitamin B12 concentrations (as geometric means (95% CI) in pmol\/L) were as follows: in Canada, 698 (648,747), 452 (400, 504), and 506 (459, 552); in Cambodia, 620 (552, 687), 317 (256, 378), and 357 (312, 402). The majority of participants were vitamin B12 sufficient (serum\/plasma total B12 &gt; 221 pmol\/L): 99% and 97% of mothers and 94% and 84% of infants in Canada and Cambodia, respectively. Among the Canadians, maternal, milk, and infant vitamin B12 were all correlated (p &lt; 0.05); only maternal and infant vitamin B12 were correlated among the Cambodians (p &lt; 0.001).<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu9030270","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,13]],"date-time":"2017-03-13T10:26:18Z","timestamp":1489400778000},"page":"270","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":28,"title":["Correlations between Maternal, Breast Milk, and Infant Vitamin B12 Concentrations among Mother\u2013Infant Dyads in Vancouver, Canada and Prey Veng, Cambodia: An Exploratory Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Philip","family":"Chebaya","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Food, Nutrition, and Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada"},{"name":"BC Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC V6H 3N1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1025-2194","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Crystal","family":"Karakochuk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Food, Nutrition, and Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada"},{"name":"BC Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC V6H 3N1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kaitlin","family":"March","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Food, Nutrition, and Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada"},{"name":"BC Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC V6H 3N1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nancy","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Food, Nutrition, and Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada"},{"name":"BC Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC V6H 3N1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rosemary","family":"Stamm","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hou","family":"Kroeun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Helen Keller International\u2014Cambodia Country Office, Phnom Penh 12301, Cambodia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Prak","family":"Sophonneary","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Nutrition Programme, Maternal and Child Health Centre, Ministry of Health, Phnom Penh 12202, Cambodia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mam","family":"Borath","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Sub-Committee for Food Fortification, Ministry of Planning, Phnom Penh 12000, Cambodia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Setareh","family":"Shahab-Ferdows","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"US Department of Agriculture, ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Centre, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniela","family":"Hampel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"US Department of Agriculture, ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Centre, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA"},{"name":"Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8701-7152","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susan","family":"Barr","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Food, Nutrition, and Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yvonne","family":"Lamers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Food, Nutrition, and Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada"},{"name":"BC Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC V6H 3N1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lisa","family":"Houghton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lindsay","family":"Allen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"US Department of Agriculture, ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Centre, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA"},{"name":"Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0667-4300","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tim","family":"Green","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Food, Nutrition, and Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada"},{"name":"BC Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC V6H 3N1, Canada"},{"name":"South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8315-8927","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kyly","family":"Whitfield","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Food, Nutrition, and Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada"},{"name":"BC Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC V6H 3N1, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Applied Human Nutrition, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS B3M 2J6, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"693S","DOI":"10.3945\/ajcn.2008.26947A","article-title":"How common is vitamin B-12 deficiency?","volume":"89","author":"Allen","year":"2009","journal-title":"Am. J. Clin. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"250","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1753-4887.2008.00031.x","article-title":"Effect of vitamin B12 deficiency on neurodevelopment in infants: Current knowledge and possible mechanisms","volume":"66","author":"Dror","year":"2008","journal-title":"Nutr. Rev."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1125","DOI":"10.3945\/jn.115.228189","article-title":"Vitamin B-12 concentrations in breast milk are low and are not associated with reported household hunger, recent animal-source food, or vitamin B-12 intake in women in rural Kenya","volume":"146","author":"Williams","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112","DOI":"10.3945\/jn.111.143917","article-title":"Breast Milk Vitamin B-12 Concentrations in Guatemalan Women Are Correlated with Maternal but Not Infant Vitamin B-12 Status at 12 Months Postpartum","volume":"142","author":"Deegan","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"362","DOI":"10.3945\/an.111.001172","article-title":"B vitamins in breast milk: Relative importance of maternal status and intake, and effects on infant status and function","volume":"3","author":"Allen","year":"2012","journal-title":"Adv. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kramer, M.S., and Kakuma, R. (2002). The Optimal Duration of Exclusive Breastfeeding: A Systematic Review, World Health Organization.","DOI":"10.1002\/14651858.CD003517"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S101","DOI":"10.1177\/15648265080292S114","article-title":"Effects of folate and vitamin B 12 deficiencies during pregnancy on fetal, infant, and child development","volume":"29","author":"Molloy","year":"2008","journal-title":"Food Nutr. Bull."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Ross, A.C., Caballero, B., Cousins, R.J., Tucket, K.L., and Ziegler, T.R. (2014). Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1073","DOI":"10.1093\/ajcn\/52.6.1073","article-title":"Vitamin B-12: Low milk concentrations are related to low serum concentrations in vegetarian women and to methylmalonic aciduria in their infants","volume":"52","author":"Specker","year":"1990","journal-title":"Am. J. Clin. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1966","DOI":"10.1093\/jn\/127.10.1966","article-title":"Vitamin B-12 deficiency is very prevalent in lactating Guatemalan women and their infants at three months postpartum","volume":"127","author":"Casterline","year":"1997","journal-title":"J. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"389","DOI":"10.3945\/ajcn.113.058479","article-title":"Cobalamin and haptocorrin in human milk and cobalamin-related variables in mother and child: A 9-mo longitudinal study","volume":"98","author":"Greibe","year":"2013","journal-title":"Am. J. Clin. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_12","first-page":"497","article-title":"Concentration and distribution pattern of selected micronutrients in preterm and term milk from urban Brazilian mothers during early lactation","volume":"42","author":"Trugo","year":"1988","journal-title":"Eur. J. Clin. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"402","DOI":"10.3945\/ajcn.114.106385","article-title":"Maternal vitamin D3 supplementation at 50 ug\/d protects against low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D in infants at 8 wk of age: A randomized controlled trial of 3 doses of vitamin D beginning in gestation and continued in lactation","volume":"102","author":"March","year":"2015","journal-title":"Am. J. Clin. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e162065","DOI":"10.1001\/jamapediatrics.2016.2065","article-title":"Perinatal consumption of thiamine-fortified fish sauce in rural Cambodia: A randomized clinical efficacy trial","volume":"170","author":"Whitfield","year":"2016","journal-title":"JAMA Pediatr."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"60","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodchem.2013.12.033","article-title":"Competitive chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay for vitamin B12 analysis in human milk","volume":"153","author":"Hampel","year":"2014","journal-title":"Food Chem."},{"key":"ref_16","first-page":"107.2","article-title":"Maternal and breastmilk vitamin B12 correlated with infant status but was not influenced by maternal supplementation among HIV-infected Malawian women in the Breastfeeding, Antiretrovirals and Nutrition Study (BAN)","volume":"27","author":"Allen","year":"2013","journal-title":"FASEB J."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Allen, L.H., King, J., and Lonnerdal, B. (1994). Nutrient Regulation during Pregnancy, Lactation, and Infant Growth, Premium Press.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4899-2575-6"},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"Institute of Medicine Vitamin B12 (1998). In Dietary Reference Intakes for Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, and Choline, National Academy Press."},{"key":"ref_19","unstructured":"United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Ready-to-Serve Fish Sauce (06179), Available online: https:\/\/ndb.nal.usda.gov\/ndb\/foods\/show\/1311?fgcd=&manu=&lfacet=&format=&count=&max=50&offset=&sort=default&order=asc&qlookup=fish+sauce&ds=."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Codex Alimentarius International Food Standards (2011). Standard for Fish Sauce (CODEX STAN 302-2011), Codex Alimentarius International Food Standards. Amendment 2012."},{"key":"ref_21","unstructured":"National Institute of Statistics, Directorate General for Health, and ICF International (2015). Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey 2014, National Institute of Statistics."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hampel, D., Shahab-Ferdows, S., Islam, M.M., Peerson, J.M., and Allen, L.H. (2017). Vitamin concentrations in human milk vary with time within feed, circadian rhythym, and single-dose supplementation. J. Nutr.","DOI":"10.3945\/jn.116.242941"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1215","DOI":"10.1515\/cclm-2014-0818","article-title":"Combined indicator of vitamin B12 status: modification for missing biomarkers and folate status and recommendations for revised cut-points","volume":"53","author":"Fedosov","year":"2015","journal-title":"Clin. Chem. Lab. Med."}],"container-title":["Nutrients"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-6643\/9\/3\/270\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T18:30:17Z","timestamp":1760207417000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-6643\/9\/3\/270"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,12]]},"references-count":23,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,3]]}},"alternative-id":["nu9030270"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/nu9030270","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-6643"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-6643","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,12]]}}}