MrsD question about MMA results
 

I am a little confused about my MMA results can you tell me what your opinion is??

Oh and these are tests results that do no reflect me stopping supplementation with regular b vitamin but was BEFORE I started specific B12 supplementation.

Vit B12 serum >3000 High pg/mL range: 193-982

MMA <0.08 nmol/mL range: ,0.40


I understand the B12 serum, high due to supplementing (this was before I knew to stop but also before I started B12 specific)

I am not sure I understand the MMA results or what they mean.

thanks

If MMA is high (out of range) that indicates the B12 is not working in your body.

Most labs do not report results higher than 2000. This has to do with the calibration of the machines.

If you use cyano form, and are a non-methylator, this will build up and test in your serum high, and MMA will be high because cyano does not work biologically. If you took oral forms of B12 for a week before the test it will reflect high also.

B12 can also be high and your MMA high if your transcobalamin is not functioning to carry the B12 to all sites. This failure is still rather new ...and it is still unclear if it can be overridden with consuming higher amounts of B12 in the first place.

This link gives this range for MMA:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2108967-overview
MICROmol/L

Your test is reporting at a different concentration, so the decimal point moved. This is why getting the ranges clearly is important, because labs vary in how they measure and report.

Looks like you have some type of typo in the range for MMA in this post. Your lab reported in nanomoles not micromoles.

Yes, is was the cyano form of B that I was taking. The lab result above is correct except that I put a comma where it should not be and meant to put <

MMA <0.08 nmol/mL range: <0.40

This test is older and I went to a lab myself and I never really understood the results which is why I have not done another B12 test since then, I just don't understand my results and my dr looked at it and said looks fine, and yes your B12 is high stop taking it. NO HELP.

You said "your MMA high if your transcobalamin is not functioning to carry the B12 to all sites" and I have read that before but what would that mean exactly?? Or do I just assume the MMA is high due to taking the cyano form?

Thanks for your insight MrsD. I'm trying to understand this lab test result because I want to retake my test but if I don't understand what I am looking at now, I doubt I will understand again later.

Your MMA is not high. So that is good.

Transcobalamin carries the B12 --it is a peptide.
You can look that up. It is becoming another test to clarify B12 use in the body, but is still new.

If you were taking B12 orally when the test was run, it would naturally run high in results.

If your MMA were high as well as the B12 high that would be a problem, indicating that Cyano is not being converted to active form. But your MMA is low and that is good.

Oh, ok thanks. I never really understood if the result was high or low and the dr didn't say either (i am not sure he understood the results either). I had tried to google those results but again, simply never understood what I was reading. Most everything I read did not have MMA results the same way my lab did it.

thank you

MMA is a compound we all have. It is metabolized AWAY by enzymes using B12. There is a birth defect that causes it to build up in babies (broken enzyme), which is fatal. There was a landmark child abuse case where a mother was charged with killing her child who had this defect. She was convicted and later discovered to have this problem and she was released from prison.

So when MMA is ELEVATED that is a serious thing, and means the B12 is not working or not present in high enough amounts to work. It is the reverse of what one would expect from tests.
Low MMA does not mean a "deficiency" where B12 is concerned.