Thoughts on Intrinsic Factor supplements

[kclusa]

I have seen labs like Metagenics sell a combo vitamin of B12 and intrinsic factor. I think the IF is derived from pigs. Any research if this is effective?

[clivealive Forum Support]

Hi kclusa

This is an interesting read:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...

Scroll down to Life's work

Pernicious anaemia

In 1927, Castle performed his initial set of brilliantly conceived experiments that demonstrated the existence of the gastric intrinsic factor for the first time (Castle, 1929). Normal human gastric juice alone and nearly raw hamburger meat alone did not stimulate a reticulocyte response when fed to patients with pernicious anaemia. However, hamburger meat that had resided in Castle's stomach for 1 h before it was regurgitated and then fed to patients with pernicious anaemia via a nasogastric tube promptly provoked a reticulocyte response. Results of these experiments on 10 patients were published, and Castle stated: ‘that in contrast to the conditions within the stomach of the pernicious anaemia patient, there is found within the normal stomach during digestion of beef muscle some substance capable of promptly and markedly relieving the anaemia of these patients’ (Castle, 1929).

In his second set of experiments, Castle fed normal gastric juice alone to patients with pernicious anaemia with no effect, feeding them normal gastric juice in the evenings after they had been fed beef in the morning also produced no reticulocyte response, but feeding them 200 g of beef incubated for 2 h with normal gastric juice in the presence of hydrochloric acid provoked a brisk reticulocyte response. Castle concluded: ‘It is believed that for the first time a relationship between the stomach and the function of the bone marrow of the human being has been demonstrated’ (Castle & Townsend, 1929).

By 1930, he was able to write: ‘The lack of this particular property (Intrinsic Factor) of the gastric contents in pernicious anaemia is probably the essential defect leading to the development of the disease, through a failure of the normal reaction, occurring in these experiments with beef muscle proteins (Extrinsic factor) and normal gastric juice’ (Castle et al, 1930).

These experiments also showed the importance of the reticulocyte response as an index of activity of the bone marrow and of the effectiveness of the therapeutic agents. Daily observation of the reticulocyte count played a pivotal role in analysing the basis of various nutritional anaemias such as iron deficiency anaemia and the macrocytic anaemias (Minot & Castle, 1935).

These series of simple experiments by Castle (equipment used: a meat chopper, a sieve, a few containers and a flexible rubber tube for nasogastric intubation), conducted a full 20 years before the discovery of the extrinsic factor (vitamin B12), remain some of the most elegant clinical investigations ever carried out in this country. Over the next 27 years, Castle and colleagues at the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory further elucidated the role of intrinsic factor and clearly outlined the pathophyisology of pernicious anaemia.

I am not medically trained but have had P.A. for over 46 years

[JanD236 in reply to clivealive]

Very interesting thanks clivealive!

[Gambit62 Administrator]

had a look at the reviews on amazon UK- not many and rather mixed.

looked at the blurb on another site and it was the usual advertising hype of resolving tiredness with no mention that it would be unlikely to have any effect on tiredness unless you were actually B12 deficient.

personally not convinced but also haven't tried it.