Although the healthy body stores three to five years' worth of B12 in the liver, the usually undetected autoimmune activity in one's gut over a prolonged period of time leads to B12 depletion and the resulting anemia. B12 is required by enzymes for two reactions: the conversion of methylmalonyl CoA to succinyl CoA, and the conversion of homocysteine to methionine. In the latter reaction, the methyl group of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate is transferred to homocysteine to produce tetrahydrofolate and methionine. This reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme methionine synthase with B12 as an essential cofactor. During B12 deficiency, this reaction cannot proceed, which leads to the accumulation of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. This accumulation depletes the other types of folate required for purine and thymidylate synthesis, which are required for the synthesis of DNA. Inhibition of DNA replication in red blood cells results in the formation of large, fragile megaloblastic erythrocytes. The neurological aspects of the disease are thought to arise from the accumulation of methylmalonyl CoA due to the requirement of B12 as a cofactor to the enzyme methylmalonyl CoA mutase