The department of biotechnology (DBT) will soon begin research on 'vitamin B12 and one-carbon metabolism' as recent evidence indicates that deficiency of vitamin B12 has profound implications for human health, notably anaemia and cognitive decline, particularly in the elderly people.

The DBT's initiative in this regard is significant as vitamin B12 is an essential micronutrient, which is a key constituent of the one-carbon metabolism pathway. Deficiency of this micronutrient may have some role in development of neural tube defects, adiposity, coronary artery disease, and autism spectrum disorders. In the backdrop of current disease burden in India, it is important to quantify the magnitude of vitamin B12 deficiency and its implications for human health.

The DBT has invited research proposals from scientists/interdisciplinary groups/ clinicians working in recognised R&D institutions.

The thrust area of research will be on evaluation of the national magnitude of vitamin B12 deficiency throughout the life cycle and its co-existence with other important micronutrient deficiencies and identification of dietary and genetic factors predisposing to deficiency, through multicentric studies adopting uniform methodologies with appropriate quality control.

Thrust of the research will also be on mechanistic insights into the absorption, assimilation efficiency of vitamin B12 in the context of age and genetic make-up; randomized controlled trials to evaluate the benefits and safety of vitamin B12 supplementation across the life cycle; and developing better assays for metabolites in one carbon metabolism pathway.

Understanding the role of B12 deficiency in complex disorders in the context of folate sufficiency with special focus to understand its trans-generational effect using model systems and prospective human studies and identifying alternate sources of vitamin B12 especially from plant products and testing their bioavailability (animal models and humans), acceptability and safety profile are the other two thrust areas of the research.

The proposals should be aimed to create a road map to understand the burden of vitamin B12 deficiency, alternate sources of vitamin B12 to cater to the large vegetarian population of the country, to evaluate the causes and the effects of such deficiency and the disease burden reduction through early detection and dietary intervention.

Expected outcome and deliverables of the research will be the epidemiology of vitamin B12 deficiency in India, especially regional differences due to varying food habits and identification of genetic, epigenetic, metabolic and dietary factors responsible for the burden of vitamin B12 deficiency in Indian population; trans-generational effect of vitamin B12 deficiency in the context of folate sufficiency in model systems mimicking Indian scenario; assessment of the benefits of increasing the levels of vitamin B12 in the population especially in the context of anaemia, cognitive decline and metabolic diseases; developing gold standard assays for the metabolites in the one-carbon metabolism pathway; and identification of alternate plant sources for vitamin B12.