Effect of Age on Plasma Homocysteine Concentrations in Young and Elderly Subjects Considering Serum Vitamin Concentrations and Different Lifestyle Factors

2004 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Straßburg ◽  
Krems ◽  
Lührmann ◽  
Hartmann ◽  
Neuhäuser-Berthold
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Serum Vitamin ◽  
Lifestyle Factors ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Vitamin B ◽  
Serum Concentrations ◽  
Plasma Thcy ◽  
Vitamin B 12 ◽  
Young And Elderly Subjects

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether an increase in total homocysteine (tHcy) concentration with increasing age is due to diminishing serum concentrations of pyridoxal-5-phosphate (PLP), vitamin B-12, and folate. The possible influence of different lifestyle factors on tHcy concentration was considered. Methods: Plasma tHcy, serum concentrations of pyridoxal-5-phosphate, vitamin B-12, and folate, intake of coffee and tea, alcohol, and methionine, as well as cigarette smoking, were determined in 252 elderly subjects (60–87 years old) of the longitudinal study on nutrition and health status in an aging population in Gießen (GISELA) and 99 young adults (20–34 years old) of the study on health and nutrition of young adults (GEJE). Results: Mean plasma tHcy concentrations were significantly higher in elderly than in young female subjects (9.7 ± 1.9 mumol/L vs. 9.0 ± 1.6 mumol/L, p < 0.05), but there was no difference between elderly and young men (10.6 ± 2.1 mumol/L vs. 10.7 ± 2.6 mumol/L). No differences in tHcy were observed between young and elderly subjects after adjustment for serum concentrations of PLP, vitamin B-12, and folate. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed a significant influence of age only in elderly, but not in younger subjects. Conclusion: Higher tHcy concentrations in the elderly, in comparison to younger women, are due to lower serum concentrations of PLP, vitamin B-12, and folate, whereas within the age group of elderly subjects alone tHcy concentrations increase with age irrespective of serum vitamin concentrations.

Effects of a Nutritional Supplement Fortified with Vitamin B-12 on Well Nourished, Free-Living Elderly Subjects

2006 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Hirsch ◽  
Laura Leiva ◽  
Pía de la Maza ◽  
Vivian Gattás ◽  
Gladys Barrera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
Serum Vitamin ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Nutritional Supplement ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Vitamin B ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Vitamin B 12

Vitamin B-12 deficiency is prevalent among the elderly population but it is often unrecognized because the clinical manifestations are not present. Objective: To evaluate the effects of a nutritional supplement fortified with vitamin B-12 on well nourished, free-living elderly subjects. Patients and methods: Healthy elderly subjects attending two of four clinics were allocated to receive, over six months’ duration, a nutritional supplement with 3.8 µg of vitamin B-12. Subjects attending the other two clinics served as controls. Serum vitamin B-12 levels were measured at baseline and 6 months after the supplementation was started. Results: After 6 months of consuming the supplement fortified with vitamin B-12, serum B-12 concentration increased from 350.1 ± 166.5 pmol/L to 409.0 ± 166.1 and decreased in the control group from 319.4 ± 129.1 to 290.1 ± 135.7 (ANOVA, p < 0.005). Conclusion: A supplementation with 3.8 µg /day of vitamin B-12 led to significant improvements in the serum concentrations of vitamin B-12 in older persons.

scholarly journals Very Low Oral Doses of Vitamin B-12 Increase Serum Concentrations in Elderly Subjects with Food-Bound Vitamin B-12 Malabsorption

2007 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Blacher ◽  
Sébastien Czernichow ◽  
Mathilde Raphaöl ◽  
Christophe Roussel ◽  
Bernadette Chadefaux-Vekemans ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Vitamin B ◽  
Serum Concentrations ◽  
Vitamin B 12 ◽  
Oral Doses

scholarly journals Prevalence of Vitamin B-12 Deficiency in US Adults Using the Combined Indicator of Vitamin B-12 status, cB12

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 1824-1824
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Mineva ◽  
Maya Sternberg ◽  
Christine M Pfeiffer
Keyword(s):  
Mexican Americans ◽  
Methylmalonic Acid ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Serum Vitamin ◽  
Vitamin B ◽  
Us Congress ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
Plasma Thcy ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Vitamin B 12

Abstract Objectives High blood methylmalonic acid (MMA) and homocysteine (tHcy) and low serum B-12 and holotranscobalamin (holoTC) concentrations indicate vitamin B-12 deficiency. The diagnosis is often contradictory when using any test independently. A mathematical model including all 4 biomarkers, named combined indicator of vitamin B-12 status (cB12), has been proposed. Our goal was to describe cB12 in US adults and estimate the prevalence of low or transitional vitamin B-12 status compared to conventional single biomarkers. Methods We assessed cB12 in persons ≥20 y participating in NHANES from 1999 to 2004 from 3 biomarkers: serum vitamin B-12, MMA, and plasma tHcy. Results The following groups had significantly lower cB12: persons ≥70 y compared with younger age groups, males compared with females, non-Hispanic whites compared with non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans, and non-users of vitamin B-12 containing supplements compared with users. Shorter fasting times and impaired renal function also resulted in lower cB12. There was a strong significant association of cB12 with serum vitamin B-12 (Spearman r = 0.75), MMA (r = −0.70), and tHcy concentrations (r = −0.59). The prevalence of vitamin B-12 deficiency varied with the biomarker and cutoff used: 2.2% and 13% for serum vitamin B-12 &lt; 148 and 148 − 222 pmol/L, respectively; 6.0% for MMA exceeding an age-specific cutoff between 250 and 320 nmol/L; and 8.4% for tHcy &gt; 13 μmol/L. Using the proposed cB12 cutoff of &lt; −0.5, 2.7% of adults had “low or transitional vitamin B-12 status”. Conclusions Based on the new combined indicator using 3 biomarkers a larger portion of US adults had adequate vitamin B-12 status (97%) compared to conventional single biomarkers (between 85% and 94%), likely indicating the higher specificity of cB12. It is unclear whether the availability of holoTC data would change these findings. Funding Sources This work was supported by direct appropriations from US Congress.

High Serum Folate Concentrations Are Associated with Decreased Risk of Mortality among Japanese Adults

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanmei Chen ◽  
Takanori Honda ◽  
Jun Hata ◽  
Satoko Sakata ◽  
Yoshihiko Furuta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Risk ◽  
Serum Vitamin ◽  
Mthfr C677t ◽  
Serum Folate ◽  
Vitamin B ◽  
Mthfr C677t Polymorphism ◽  
Japanese Adults ◽  
All Cause Mortality ◽  
Vitamin B 12

ABSTRACT Background Folate and vitamin B-12 are essential nutrients for normal cell growth and replication, but the association of serum folate and vitamin B-12 concentrations with mortality risk remains uncertain. Objective This study was performed to investigate the associations of serum folate and vitamin B-12 concentrations with mortality risk and test whether the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism modifies these associations. Methods A total of 3050 Japanese community residents aged ≥40 y were prospectively followed-up for mortality between 2002 and 2012. Cox proportional hazards models and restricted cubic splines were used to estimate HRs and 95% CIs of mortality. Results During a median follow-up period of 10.2 y, 336 participants died. Higher serum folate concentrations were associated with lower risks of all-cause mortality [multivariable-adjusted HR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.56, 0.96 for the second tertile (8.8–12.2 nmol/L; median 10.4 nmol/L) and HR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.46, 0.80 for the third tertile (≥12.5 nmol/L; median 15.6 nmol/L) serum folate concentrations compared with the first tertile (≤8.6 nmol/L; median 7.0 nmol/L)]. This association remained significant in all sensitivity analyses. Spline analyses showed a steady decline in all-cause mortality risk with increasing serum folate concentrations up to 20–25 nmol/L. This association persisted regardless of the MTHFR C677T genotypes. For serum vitamin B-12, the multivariable-adjusted HR of 1.32 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.79) of all-cause mortality was marginally significantly greater in the first tertile compared with the second tertile. This association was attenuated and nonsignificant after the exclusion of participants with a history of cardiovascular disease or cancer, or participants aged ≥85 y at baseline, or deaths in the first 3 y of follow-up. Conclusions Serum folate concentrations were inversely associated with the risk of all-cause mortality in Japanese adults. Serum vitamin B-12 concentrations were not consistently associated with all-cause mortality risk after accounting for reverse-causation bias.

scholarly journals Interpretation of vitamin B-12 and folate concentrations in population-based surveys does not require adjustment for inflammation: Biomarkers Reflecting Inflammation and Nutritional Determinants of Anemia (BRINDA) project

2020 ◽  
Vol 111 (4) ◽  
pp. 919-926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa F Young ◽  
Junjie Guo ◽  
Anne Williams ◽  
Kyly C Whitfield ◽  
Sabiha Nasrin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Survey Design ◽  
Serum Vitamin ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Reproductive Age ◽  
Serum Folate ◽  
Vitamin B ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Population Prevalence ◽  
Vitamin B 12

ABSTRACT Background Vitamin B-12 and folate deficiencies in women and children have important public health implications. However, the evidence is conflicting and limited on whether the influence of inflammation on biomarker concentrations may be sufficiently and consistently influenced by inflammation to require adjustment for interpreting concentrations or estimating population prevalence of deficiencies. Objective We examined correlations between concentrations of the inflammation biomarkers C-reactive protein (CRP) and α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) and serum vitamin B-12 and serum and RBC folate among nonpregnant women of reproductive age (WRA; 15–49 yr) and preschool children (PSC; 6–59 mo). Methods We analyzed cross-sectional data from 16 nationally representative nutrition surveys conducted in WRA (n = 32,588) and PSC (n = 8,256) from the Biomarkers Reflecting Inflammation and Nutritional Determinants of Anemia project. Spearman correlations between CRP or AGP and vitamin B-12 or folate concentrations were examined, taking into account complex survey design effects. Results Correlations between inflammation and vitamin B-12 or folate were weak, with no clear pattern of association in either WRA or PSC. Correlation coefficients between CRP and vitamin B-12 for WRA and PSC ranged from −0.25 to 0.16, and correlations between AGP and vitamin B-12 ranged between −0.07 and 0.14. Similarly, correlations between CRP and serum folate ranged from −0.13 to 0.08, and correlations between AGP and serum folate between −0.21 and 0.02. Only 3 surveys measured RBC folate, and among them, correlations for WRA ranged from −0.07 to 0.08 for CRP and −0.04 for AGP (1 country). Conclusions Based on the weak and inconsistent correlations between CRP or AGP and vitamin B-12 or folate biomarkers, there is no rationale to adjust for inflammation when estimating population prevalence of vitamin B-12 or folate deficiencies in WRA or PSC.

scholarly journals Vitamin B-12 content in breast milk of vegan, vegetarian, and nonvegetarian lactating women in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Pawlak ◽  
Paul Vos ◽  
Setareh Shahab-Ferdows ◽  
Daniela Hampel ◽  
Lindsay H Allen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Milk ◽  
Maternal Diet ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Diet Group ◽  
Vitamin B ◽  
Supplement Use ◽  
Diet Pattern ◽  
Vitamin B 12 ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT Background The nutritional profile of human milk varies significantly between women, and the impact of maternal diet on these variations is not well understood. Objective We analyzed breast-milk vitamin B-12 concentration and vitamin B-12 supplement use pattern among women who adhered to different dietary patterns: vegan, vegetarian, and nonvegetarian. Design A total of 74 milk samples, 29 from vegan, 19 from vegetarian, and 26 from nonvegetarian breastfeeding mothers, were analyzed. Results The prevalences of low vitamin B-12 (<310 pmol/L) were 19.2% for vegans, 18.2% for vegetarians, and 15.4% for nonvegetarians, which was not significant by diet group (P = 1.00). The median (quartile 1, quartile 3) vitamin B-12 values were 558 pmol/L (331, 759 pmol/L) for vegans, 509 pmol/L (368, 765 pmol/L) for vegetarians, and 444 pmol/L (355, 777 pmol/L) for nonvegetarians (P = 0.890). The use of individual vitamin B-12 supplements was higher in vegans (46.2%) than in vegetarians (27.3%) and nonvegetarians (3.9%) (P = 0.001). In linear regression analysis, the use of individual vitamin B-12 supplements was a significant positive predictor of milk vitamin B-12 concentration (β ± SE: 172.9 ± 75.2; standardized β = 0.263; P = 0.024; R2 = 0.069), the use of a multivitamin had a significant negative relation with milk vitamin B-12 concentrations (β ± SE −222.0 ± 98.7; standardized β = −0.258; P = 0.028, R2 = 0.067;), whereas the use of a B-complex vitamin and prenatal vitamin were not predictive of vitamin B-12 milk concentration (P > 0.05). Conclusions Almost 20% of our study participants were classified as having low breast-milk vitamin B-12 concentrations (<310 pmol/L), independent of maternal diet pattern. Approximately 85% of participants categorized as having low vitamin B-12 were taking vitamin B-12 supplements at doses in excess of the Recommended Dietary Allowance, which suggests that more research is needed to determine breast-milk adequacy values.

scholarly journals Low Serum Vitamin B-12 Concentrations Are Prevalent in a Cohort of Pregnant Canadian Women

2016 ◽  
Vol 146 (5) ◽  
pp. 1035-1042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carly E Visentin ◽  
Shannon P Masih ◽  
Lesley Plumptre ◽  
Theresa H Schroder ◽  
Kyoung-Jin Sohn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Serum Vitamin ◽  
Vitamin B ◽  
Vitamin B 12 ◽  
Low Serum

Increased plasma homocysteine levels without signs of vitamin B12 deficiency in patients with multiple sclerosis assessed by blood and cerebrospinal fluid homocysteine and methylmalonic acid

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Vrethem ◽  
E Mattsson ◽  
H Hebelka ◽  
K Leerbeck ◽  
A Österberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Cerebrospinal Fluid ◽  
Methylmalonic Acid ◽  
Haemoglobin Concentration ◽  
Serum Vitamin ◽  
High Serum ◽  
Plasma Homocysteine ◽  
Cobalamin Deficiency ◽  
Vitamin B ◽  
Plasma Thcy

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate if multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with vitamin B12 (cobalamin) deficiency. Methods: We measured serum vitamin B12, plasma folate, serum methylmalonic acid (MMA), plasma homocysteine (tHcy) and also cerebrospinal fluid (C SF) MMA and tHcy in 72 patients with MS and 23 controls. Results: The mean plasma tHcy level was significantly increased in MS patients (11.6 mmol/L) compared with controls (7.4 mmol/L) (P =4-0.002). Seven patients showed low serum vitamin B12levels but only one of them had concomitant high plasma tHcy. None of them showed high serum MMA. Plasma or blood folate levels did not differ between MS patients and controls. We found no significant differences in mean values or frequency of pathological tests of serum B12, serum MMA, mean corpuscular volume (MC V), haemoglobin concentration, C SF tHcy or C SF MMA between patients and healthy subjects. There were no correlations between C SF and serum/plasma levels of MMA or tHcy. Serum vitamin B12, serum MMA, plasma tHcy, C SF Hcy or C SF MMA were not correlated to disability status, activity of disease, duration of disease or age. Conclusions:The relevance of the increased mean value of plasma tHcy thus seems uncertain and does not indicate functional vitamin B12 deficiency. We can not, however, exclude the possibility of a genetically induced dysfunction of the homocysteine metabolism relevant for the development of neuroinflammation/degeneration. O ur findings indicate that, regardless of a significant increase in plasma tHcy in MS patients, the MS disease is not generally associated with vitamin B12 deficiency since we did not find any other factors indicating vitamin B12 deficiency. A nalysis of C SF MMA and C SF tHcy, which probably reflects the brain vitamin B12 status better than serum, are not warranted in MS. We conclude that B12 deficiency, in general, is not associated with MS.

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