135 – Essential Vitamins 1 + Folate

Background:

Essential Vitamins 1 + Folate panel includes Vitamin D (25OHD) and Cobalamin (Vitamin B12) – two essential nutrients that are only obtained through diet, and Folate (Fol) which is produced endogenously through the gut bacteria.  Vitamin D, the most important hormone in the body, is responsible for supporting the innate immune system and has a role in disease prevention and management.  Sufficient levels are anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, and pro-immunity.  Cobalamin and folate are chiefly response for DNA/RNA production as critical cofactors.  Learn more about VitD and B12 here.   VDI provides patient-specific dosing guidelines for Vitamin D and B12.

Clinical Applications:

1. Diet Changes
2. Gastrointestinal Disease
3. Inflammatory Disease
4. Cancer Patients
5. General Wellness – preventative
6. PLE Patients
7. Patients on NSAIDs or Corticosteroids

Recommendations:

Evaluating essential vitamin levels should start once the dog or cat reaches adult stages and establishes their adult diet.  Once diet has been stable for 3 months, test baseline vitamins and correct any insufficiencies with supplementation, or consider a diet change if values are considerably low.   Recheck intervals are every year once sufficient unless diet or health changes occur.