Urinary Excretion of Short‐Chain Fatty Acids in Latent Pernicious Anaemia and Related Conditions

Summary. In 20 hospital control subjects the daily urinary excretion of methylmalonic acid (MMA) was between 17 and 56 mg, of acetic acid between 6.6 and 220 mg, and of propionic acid between o and 14 mg. Thirty‐one patients with latent pernicious anaemia excreted between 6 and 100 mg MMA, 3.5–130 mg acetic acid and o‐11 mg propionic acid per day. The excretion of MMA in latent pernicious anaemia was unaffected by doses of valine given by mouth, whereas in all 17 subjects with megaloblastic anaemia due to vitamin B12 deficiency, valine increased the excretion. Without valine, however, 20% of vitamin B12‐deficient patients excreted normal amounts of MMA, as did every patient with folate deficiency. The mean amounts of acetic and propionic acids excreted by the various groups were not significantly different from the results for control subjects.