From:  Vitamin B12 as an immunometabolic regulator: bridging one-carbon metabolism, mitochondrial function and immunity

 Impact of vitamin B12 deficiency on adaptive immune responses [11, 12, 17].

Cell typeFunctionEffect of vitamin B12 deficiencyReferences
CD8+ T cellsCytotoxic responseReduced numbers; altered CD4+/CD8+ ratio. CD8+ cells depend strongly on mitochondrial oxidative metabolism and one-carbon flux for cytotoxic granule synthesis and proliferation.[11, 12]
CD4+ T cellsHelper function; Th1/Th2 balanceShift to Th2; reduced IFN-γ, increased IL-4 & IL-10. CD4+ helper cells can partially compensate via glycolytic reprogramming, resulting in less pronounced quantitative loss.[11, 12]
Treg (FOXP3+) cells (added)Immune tolerance; FOXP3-dependent suppressionImpaired methylation-dependent stability of FOXP3 expression → impaired Treg differentiation → loss of peripheral tolerance; disproportionately affected due to constitutive methylation-dependence of FOXP3 expression.[11, 12, 17]
B cellsAntibody synthesisDecreased IgG & IgA; impaired germinal center formation.[12, 17]

Impact of vitamin B12 deficiency on lymphocyte subsets and humoral immunity. FOXP3: forkhead box P3; Treg: regulatory T cell.