Method for Treating or Preventing a Functional Vitamin B12 Deficiency in an Individual and to Medical Compositions for Use in Said Method

摘要

A method and medical composition for the treatment and/or prevention of a functional Vitamin B₁₂ deficiency in an individual that is brought about as a consequence of oxidative stress on biochemical pathways. The functional Vitamin B₁₂ deficiency may eventually present as dementia, other neuropsychiatric abnormality and/or vascular disease. The method involves the administration of a medical composition that supplies a cobalt-sulphur bond in the upper β-ligand of an intracellular cobalamin molecule thereby facilitating intracellular processing of cobalamin. The cobalt-sulphur bond may he provided directly by administration of a thiolatocohalamin, such as glutathianyl-cobalamin or indirectly by the co-administration of Vitamin B₁₂ (or a derivative thereof) with a sulphur-containing molecule, such as glutathione or a precursor thereof.