Testing for methylmalonic acid

[Orion]

Hi, Jeff,

I got a blood test recently. I told my physician that in addition to getting my fasting blood sugar, my cholesterol and A1C checked, as a vegan I would like to also have my vitamin B12 checked and methylmalonic acid (MMA) checked too. I told him that I could not remember exactly why I needed MMA checked in addition to vitamin B12, but I read about it somewhere.

His response was that we don't really need to check MMA because we can check both CBC and B12. He said that as long as my body is still making sufficient red blood cells, I am in good shape. But then he said, "Well, if you want to check MMA also, we can add that too."

So, I got my blood checked. But then I remember that the test I should have asked for is urinary MMA, not blood MMA. But I can't remember why. Is there are reason why urinary MMA is a better test than blood MMA?

Thanks.

[JeffN]

Hi, Jeff,

I got a blood test recently. I told my physician that in addition to getting my fasting blood sugar, my cholesterol and A1C checked, as a vegan I would like to also have my vitamin B12 checked and methylmalonic acid (MMA) checked too. I told him that I could not remember exactly why I needed MMA checked in addition to vitamin B12, but I read about it somewhere.

His response was that we don't really need to check MMA because we can check both CBC and B12. He said that as long as my body is still making sufficient red blood cells, I am in good shape. But then he said, "Well, if you want to check MMA also, we can add that too."

So, I got my blood checked. But then I remember that the test I should have asked for is urinary MMA, not blood MMA. But I can't remember why. Is there are reason why urinary MMA is a better test than blood MMA?

Thanks.

It is a more sensitive and stable marker. Here are two articles.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3955587/

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/a ... act/388318

In Health
Jeff