The nurse administers vitamin B12 to a patient with pernicious anemia. This patient has the inability to absorb vitamin B12 because of a deficiency in:

Explanation

• Intrinsic factor, released by parietal cells of the stomach, binds to B12 to facilitate absorption in the small bowel. A deficiency of intrinsic factor leads to pernicious anemia

• Gastrin is a peptide hormone that stimulates gastric acid secretion

• Folic acid is important in DNA synthesis and the production and maintenance of new cells. A deficiency would cause anemia, but this is unrelated to B12

• Extrinsic factor is nonexistent

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