The Cobalamin (B­12) Conference

1. Recent Developments in Cobalamin Metabolism
   Conversion of cyanocobalamin to metabolically active cobalamin
   Utilization of Cobalamins in man
   Homocysteine-methionine isomerizations
   The Methylfolate trap
   Unknown metabolic pathways involving cobalamins
2. Thin-layer Chromatography in Vitamin B12 and its Coenzymes
3. Investigations of B12 Metabolism using Chromatography and Bio-autography of Individual Cobalamins
   Method of Estimation of Total Vitamin B12 and individual cobalamins
   Methylcobalamin/Deoxyadenosylcobalamin
   Deoxyadenosylcobalamin is the most prominent
4. Diol Dehydrase – its use in the Specific Assay of 5’-Deoxyadenosylcobalamin
5. Transport of Cobalamins Across the Gut Wall
   Cyanocobalamin is the best
6. Protein-Mediated Uptake of Vitamin B12 by Cells in the Tissue
   Transcobalamin I and Transcobalamin II (Holotranscobalamin)
   The Binding of TCII
   Substances that Inhibit Cell Uptake of B12
7. Absorption of Vitamin B12: The Role of the Ileal Mitochondrion
   Role of mitochondria in the metabolism of cyanocobalamin
   Site of Cleavage of B12/IF complex
   Vitamin B12 Binders in the Ileum
8. Metabolism of Vitamin B12 in the Kidney at Subcellular Level
9. Cobalamin and Folate Interrelationships
10. The Metabolic Effects of an Impaired Methylmalonyl CoA Mutase
11. Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid in Brain Metabolism
12. Cobalamins and Cyanide Metabolism in Neurological Disease
    Tobacco Amblyopia
    Tropical Amblyopia and Tropical Neuropathy
    Leber’s Hereditary Optic Atrophy
    Sub-Acute Combined Degeneration of the Cord Secondary to PA
13. Observations on a Case of Sensitivity to Vitamin B12
    Impurities in Preparations
14. A Screening of the Metabolism of Radioactive Methylcobalamin in Man
15. Studies of Cobalamin Metabolism
16. Whole Body Monitor Studies of Cyanocobalamin Absorption in Normal Patients and in Patients with Vitamin B12 Malabsorption
17. Therapeutic Response to Large Oral Doses of Cobalamin
    “I am very suspicious of this 1% absorption of oral doses”
18. Some Observations on Vitamin B12 Binding Proteins
19. Antibody to Transcobalamin II in Patients Treated with Hydroxocobalamin

The Symposium where all of the above were discussed took place on the 18th September.
1970

Now it is easy to suppose that these questions, these important questions, have been forgotten – left behind at the beginning of the decade that brought us Flared Jeans, Jaws, Saturday Night Fever, Watergate, Miners Strikes, my first girlfriend……I could go on.

But to do so would be wrong. Every year, either in Colorado or in France, a similar conference to the one held in September 1970 is held. And the questions that are discussed are remarkably similar. Progress is being made, but it is just that, progress, painfully slow, but progress none the less, with individuals or teams of scientists contributing to the debate. I’ve been at two of these conferences and seen these people in action and I can tell you that they are a passionate and enthusiastic band of investigators from various scientific disciplines who are seeking answers to some very complex issues. The questions being discussed are remarkably similar to those being talked about in 1970, but the personnel involved are different though no less anxious to find the answers to these questions.

We, the Pernicious Anaemia Society, are always willing to contribute what we can in terms how these questions are affecting our members. Hopefully this involvement will become greater in the future. For the time being – let’s just be thankful that there are these incredibly clever people concentrating on finding the answers to these difficult questions about B12 and its absorption at cell level because that seems to be where most of our problems with adequate treatment lie.
And my first girlfriend? Believe it or not she joined the society earlier on in the year.
Ho Hum! Halcyon Days!