[The blood level of cobalamin as an indicator of the functional status of the liver in jaundice of different etiologies].

Blood serum free vitamin B12, bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase levels were measured and thymol test made in 168 patients with viral hepatitis A, 13 with chronic hepatitis, 8 with mechanical jaundice of neoplastic origin, 7 with calculous cholecystitis, and 8 with functional hyperbilirubinemia by the microbiologic methods. Elevated blood serum levels of free vitamin B12, conforming to the disease severity and stage, were revealed in the patients with viral hepatitis A, chronic active hepatitis, and mechanical jaundice of a neoplastic origin with liver involvement. Correlations between cobalaminemia and other functional liver tests were observed. Therefore blood serum vitamin B12 measurements may be used for the assessment of the disease activity and severity of liver parenchyma injury.