J Korean Geriatr Psychiatry.
2010 Jun;14(1):44-49.
Serum Levels of Homocysteine, Folate, and Vitamin B12 and Cognitive Function in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Neuropsychiatry, College of Medicine, Inje Unversity Ilsan Paik Hospital, Ilsan, Korea. lkj@paik.ac.kr
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
This study aimed to investigate the serum levels of total homocysteine (tHcy), folate and vitamin B12 in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment.
METHODS
Sixty-one Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, forty mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients and forty-four normal controls were studied. The serum homocysteine (tHcy), folate, and vitamin B12 were measured and MMSE-K, GDS were evaluated for cognitive function.
RESULTS
Serum tHcy levels were significantly higher and folate levels were lower in patients with AD than in controls. And also serum folate levels were lower in MCI than in controls. Vitamin B12 did not have a significant difference among three groups. The serum homocysteine and folate levels shows significant correlation with MMSE-K.
CONCLUSION
Elevated tHcy levels and low blood levels of folate were associated with AD. Serum folate were significantly lower levels in MCI than in controls. We suggested that serum tHcy, folate are useful risk markers for the development of cognitive dysfunction.