Cognitive function improved by B-vitamin supplementation in men and women with elevated homocysteine

http://www.lef.org/newsletter/2014/0...paign=2014Wk27

Tuesday, July 1, 2014. On June 18, 2014, the journal Nutritional Neuroscience reported the findings of a clinical trial of middle-aged and older men and women who experienced a reduction in homocysteine and better cognition in association with B vitamin supplementation.

The trial included 104 subjects aged 55 to 94 with hyperhomocysteinemia. Participants received 800 micrograms folate, 10 milligrams vitamin B6 and 25 micrograms vitamin B12, or a placebo for 14 weeks. Cognitive aptitude tests and serum analysis of total homocysteine, folate, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 were conducted before and after treatment.

While folate and vitamin B6 levels remained stable in the control group over the course of the study, vitamin B12 levels declined. Not surprisingly, B vitamin levels improved among those who were supplemented with them. Homocysteine slightly increased in the control group while declining by an average of 3.3 micromoles per liter in those that received B vitamins. Cognitive function significantly improved among those in the vitamin group.

"The cognitive function in the elderly is related to the nutritional status of B vitamins, homocysteine concentrations, and some gene mutations," Daomei Cheng of China's Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine and colleagues write. "The proposed mechanisms for the brain injury caused by the deficiency of B vitamins and hyperhomocysteinemia relate to hypomethylation of nucleic acids and neurotransmitters, increased oxidative stress, and increased synthesis of amyloid beta-protein."

"We have observed the homocysteine lowering and cognition improving effects of supplementation containing folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 in the middle-aged and elderly with hyperhomocysteinemia," they conclude. "We recommend that all elderly should take B vitamin supplements regularly if the blood test results indicate that the homocysteine concentrations are abnormal."