Evidence for intestinal origin of transcobalamin II during vitamin B12 absorption.

The plasma binding of newly absorbed, radioactively labelled vitamin B12 was studied during a urinary excretion (Schilling) test. Vitamin B12, after being absorbed from the gut, enters blood attached to transcobalamin II, which seems to be derived from the ileal enterocyte. The absorbed B12 re-enters the blood stream after the transcobalamin II-B12 complex is cleared by the liver and it is then excreted into the urine during the Schilling test.