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. 2024 Jun;193(3):1621-1639.
doi: 10.1007/s11845-023-03602-4. Epub 2024 Jan 17.

Efficacy of different routes of vitamin B12 supplementation for the treatment of patients with vitamin B12 deficiency: A systematic review and network meta-analysis

Omar Ahmed Abdelwahab  1   2 , Ahmed Abdelaziz  3   4 , Sherein Diab  3   5 , Ali Khazragy  3   6 , Toka Elboraay  3   7 , Taha Fayad  3   8 , Rehab Adel Diab  3   9 , Ahmed Negida  3   7   10   11
Affiliations

Efficacy of different routes of vitamin B12 supplementation for the treatment of patients with vitamin B12 deficiency: A systematic review and network meta-analysis

Omar Ahmed Abdelwahab et al. Ir J Med Sci. 2024 Jun.

Abstract

Background: This systematic review and network meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the three different administration routes of vitamin B12: oral, intramuscular (IM), and sublingual (SL) routes.

Methods: We searched four electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane CENTRAL Register of Controlled Trials). We included only comparative studies. We performed a frequentist network meta-analysis to measure network estimates for the relative outcomes. Moreover, we conducted a pairwise meta-analysis using a random effect model to obtain direct estimates for outcomes. All outcomes were continuous, and the relative treatment effects were pooled as mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals.

Results: Thirteen studies were included in the meta-analysis, with a total of 4275 patients. Regarding increasing vitamin B12 levels, the IM route ranked first, followed by the SL route (MD = 94.09 and 43.31 pg/mL, respectively) compared to the oral route. However, these differences did not reach statistical significance owing to the limited number of studies. Regarding the hemoglobin level, the pooled effect sizes showed no difference between all routes of administration that could reach statistical significance. However, the top two ranked administration routes were the oral route (78.3) and the IM route (49.6).

Conclusion: All IM, oral, and SL routes of administration of vitamin B12 can effectively increase the level of vitamin B12 without significant differences between them, as thought previously. However, the IM route was the top-ranked statistically but without clinical significance. We found no significant difference among studied administrated routes in all other CBC parameters and homocysteine levels.

Keywords: Administration; Intramuscular; Oral; Sublingual; Vitamin B12.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Vitamin B12 absorption, transport and metabolism
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
PRISMA flow diagram of studies’ screening and selection
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Network estimates of treatment effect on each outcome
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Advantages and disadvantages of each route of administration
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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