B12 Shots May Fight Infections

As time goes on, we find that B12 shots can be helpful for many reasons. In CFS/FMS, research shows that B12 deficiency occurs in the brain despite normal blood levels, so it may take the high levels achieved by the shots to get adequate levels in the brain. Research by Professor Marty Pall also suggests that in CFS there is a problem with "nitric oxide"—and B12 shots can help this.

Here's another benefit of B12 shots: They may kill infections. This new study shows B12 shots are anti-malarial. Maybe the old time docs knew what they were doing when they gave B12 shots…

J Inorg Biochem. 2007 May;101(5):764-73. Epub 2007 Jan 31.

Naturally Occurring Cobalamins Have Antimalarial Activity

Chemaly SM, Chen CT, van Zyl RL

Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. susan.chemaly@witz.ac.za

The acquisition of resistance by malaria parasites towards existing antimalarials has necessitated the development of new chemotherapeutic agents. The effect of vitamin B(12) derivatives on the formation of beta-haematin (synthetic haemozoin) was determined under conditions similar to those in the parasitic food vacuole (using chloroquine, a known inhibitor of haemozoin formation for comparison). Adenosylcobalamin (Ado-cbl), methylcobalamin (CH(3)-cbl) and aquocobalamin (H(2)O-cbl) were approximately forty times more effective inhibitors of beta-haematin formation than chloroquine, cyanocobalamin (CN-cbl) was slightly more inhibitory than chloroquine, while dicyanocobinamide had no effect. It is proposed that the cobalamins exert their inhibitory effect on beta-haematin formation by pi-interactions of their corrin ring with the Fe(III)-protoporphyrin ring and by hydrogen-bonding using their 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole/ribose/sugar side-chain. The antimalarial activity for the cobalamins (Ado-cbl>CH(3)-cbl>H(2)O-cbl>CN-cbl) was found to be less than that for chloroquine or quinine. Ado-cbl, CH(3)-cbl and CN-cbl do not accumulate in the parasite food vacuole by pH trapping, but H(2)O-cbl does. Unlike humans, the malaria parasite has only one enzyme that uses cobalamin as a cofactor, namely methionine synthase, which is important for growth and metabolism. Thus cobalamins in very small amounts are necessary for Plasmodium falciparum growth but in larger amounts they display antimalarial properties.

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&uid=17343914)

PMID: 17343914 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]