Table 1. Cobalamin, folate and metabolite concentrations before and after treatment.

	Sublingual B12	Oral B12	Oral B complex	P-value1
Serum cobalamin (pmol l–1)
Baseline	94 ± 30	108 ± 17	98 ± 14	NS
Week 4	288 ± 74	286 ± 87	293 ± 78	NS
Week 8	279 ± 75	241 ± 73	266 ± 56	NS
P-value1	0.0001	0.0001	0.0001
95% CI4	(114.5, 273.9)	(104.2, 252.4)	(135.0, 255.2)
95% CI5	(105.5, 264.9)	(59.1, 207.3)	(107.6, 227.8)
Serum folate (nmol l–1)
Baseline	15.8 ± 5.6	19.0 ± 7.3	15.6 ± 10.2	NS
Week 4	15.3 ± 4.7	19.7 ± 7.1	15.4 ± 8.9	NS
P-value3	NS	NS	NS
95% CI4	(−5.3, 4.3)	(−6.1, 7.4)	(−9.5, 8.6)
Plasma homocysteine (µmol l–1)
Baseline	16 ± 5	15 ± 5	22 ± 16	NS
Week 4	12 ± 3	13 ± 4	15 ± 7	NS
P-value3	0.056	NS	NS
95% CI4	(−7.8, 0.1)	(−5.7, 2.9)	(−18.4, 4.7)
Urine MMA (mg g–1 creatinine)
Baseline	1.8 ± 1.1	1.2 ± 0.7	2.2 ± 2.1	NS
Week 4	1.0 ± 0.6	1.0 ± 0.5	1.0 ± 0.7	NS
P-value3	0.052	NS	NS
95% CI4	(−1.6, 0.01)	(−0.7, 0.4)	(−2.5, 0.4)

Data are mean ± SD.

¹Comparison between treatment groups;

²comparison between data in weeks 4 and 8 vs baseline;

³comparison between data in week 4 vs baseline;

⁴95% confidence interval between data in week 4 vs data at baseline;

⁵95% confidence interval between data in week 8 vs data at baseline. MMA, methylmalonic acid. Normal serum cobalamin concentration: 138–781 pmol l⁻¹; normal serum folate concentration: 6.8–38.5 nmol l⁻¹; normal plasma homocysteine concentration: 5–20 µmol l⁻¹; normal urine MMA concentrations 0–3.5 mg g⁻¹ creatinine.