Table 2.
Gender-wise comparison of normal and low levels of serum vitamin B12 and folic acid and normal and higher levels of MMA.
| Variables | Male n=149 G-I n=77, G-II n=72 |
Female n=51 G-I n=23, G-II n=28 |
Total n=200 |
|---|---|---|---|
| B12 (<200pg/ml) | |||
| G-I | 37 (48.1)*† | 14 (60.9)α | 51 (51)∞ |
| G-II | 03 (4.2) | 0 (0)‡ | 03 (3) |
| B12 (>200pg/ml) | |||
| G-I | 40 (51.9)*† | 9 (39.1)α | 49 (49)∞ |
| G-II | 69 (95.8) | 28 (100)‡ | 97 (97) |
| Folate <3nmol/L) | |||
| G-I | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| G-II | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Folate (>3nmol/L) | |||
| G-II | 100 (100) | 100 (100) | 100 (100) |
| G-II | 100 (100) | 100 (100) | 100 (100) |
| MMA (100-271nmol/L) | |||
| G-I | 44 (57.1)*† | 12 (52.2)α | 56 (56)∞ |
| G-II | 72 (100) | 28(100)‡ | 100 (100) |
| MMA (>271nmol/L) | |||
| G-I | 33 (42.9) | 11(47.9)α | 44 (44)∞ |
| G-II | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
MMA - Methylmalonic acid, G-I - group I (Vegetarian), G-II - group II (Omnivores), N - Number of subjects, % - Percentage,
*
p<0.001 when male vegetarians’ compared with male omnivores,
α
p<0.001 when female vegetarians’ compared with female omnivores,
†
p<0.001 when male vegetarians’ compared with female vegetarians’,
‡
p=0.13 non-significant when male omnivores compared with female omnivores,
∞
p<0.001 when total vegetarians’ compared with total omnivores