Date of Graduation

12-2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Health, Human Performance and Recreation

Advisor/Mentor

Di Brezzo, Ro

Committee Member

Fort, Inza L.

Second Committee Member

Gray, Michelle

Third Committee Member

Rosenkrans, Charles F. Jr.

Fourth Committee Member

Gorman, Dean R.

Keywords

Health and environmental sciences; Nebulization; Oral supplements; Vitamin B12; Vitamin deficiency

Abstract

Vitamin B12 is important for various processes in the human body including DNA synthesis, red blood cell production, energy production, fatty acid synthesis, and for the conversion of homocysteine into methionine. Vitamin B12 deficiency is becoming more prevalent. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if a different route of administration, i.e. nebulization, was a viable option for increasing serum levels of vitamin B12 in both exercisers and non-exercisers. The increasing number of people that are vitamin B12 deficient is due to several factors including medication use, elective gastric bypass surgery, and an increasing elderly population. There are currently two common ways to treat an individual who is deficient in vitamin B12; daily oral supplementation or intramuscular injection of vitamin B12. For this study, participants were placed in one of four groups (non-exercise oral B12, non-exercise nebulized B12, exercise oral B12, and exercise nebulized B12) and received either 28 consecutive days of oral B12 supplementation or once-weekly nebulized B12 treatments for four consecutive weeks. Repeated measures ANOVA indicated there was no significant time by group interaction (F[1,33] = 2.352, p = .135) or time by exercise interaction (F[1,33] = 3.013, p = .087). Also, there were no significant differences for the time by group by exercise interaction (F[1,33] = 1.472, p = .234). Although statistical significance was not achieved, nebulizing vitamin B12 did increase serum B12 levels more than oral supplementation, and is a viable option for increasing serum B12 levels. Investigating other populations such as the elderly, vegetarians, or individuals taking medications that impair with the absorption of vitamin B12 may be beneficial to determine if similar increases in serum B12 levels is expected in such populations.

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