caa a22 4500 378904663 CHVBK 20180305123527.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161128e20040901xx s 000 0 eng 10.1515/CCLM.2004.208 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)gruyter-10.1515/CCLM.2004.208 Homocysteine, vitamin B12 and folate in vascular dementia and in Alzheimer disease [Elektronische Daten] [Mariano Malaguarnera, Raffaele Ferri, Rita Bella, Giovanna Alagona, Anna Carnemolla, Giovanni Pennisi] The association between elevated plasma levels of homocysteine (Hcy) and nutritional status has been shown in Alzheimer disease (AD) patients and also in vascular dementia (VaD). Moreover, a previous study provided evidence that the relation between a high Hcy level and low vitamin B12 and folate levels in AD patients is due to biochemical damage, rather than a nutritional deficit. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between plasma Hcy levels and vitamins involved in its metabolism in AD and VaD. Twenty-two VaD patients, 22 AD patients and 24 healthy subjects were studied for Hcy, vitamin B12, vitamin B6 and folate. All patients and control subjects were comparable for age, educational level, nutritional and socioeconomic status. None of them showed macrocytic anemia or impaired renal function. Hcy was significantly increased in VaD patients (26.0±6.58 µmol/l) as compared to controls (10.7±3.0 µmol/l) and AD patients (22.3±4.51 µmol/l; p<0.001); however, AD patients also showed increased levels of Hcy. Folates were significantly reduced in both VaD (10.8±2.81 nmol/l) and AD (10.0±2.72 nmol/l; p<0.001) patients, while vitamin B12 showed significantly reduced levels only in AD patients (392.1±65.32 pmol/l; p=0.02). Vitamin B6 was not significantly different in the three groups. Increased levels of Hcy associated with low vitamin B12 plasma levels were found only in AD patients. This observation led us to consider that vitamin B12 metabolism does not represent the direct consequence of the nutritional status and suggests that neuronal damage results in a functional vitamin B12 deficiency, as emphasized by recent reports. New therapeutic strategies are necessary, considering that available pharmaceutical forms of vitamin B12 are not utilized by neurons in oxidative stress conditions. © Walter de Gruyter Medical equipment & techniques nationallicence Medical diagnosis nationallicence Diseases & disorders nationallicence Alzheimer disease nationallicence folate nationallicence homocysteine nationallicence vascular dementia nationallicence vitamin B12 nationallicence Malaguarnera Mariano Department of Internal Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy aut Ferri Raffaele Department of Neurology, IRCCS Oasi Troina (EN), Italy aut Bella Rita Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy aut Alagona Giovanna Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy aut Carnemolla Anna Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy aut Pennisi Giovanni Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy aut Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine Walter de Gruyter 42/9(2004-09-01), 1032-1035 1434-6621 42:9<1032 2004 42 cclm https://doi.org/10.1515/CCLM.2004.208 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1515/CCLM.2004.208 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Malaguarnera Mariano Department of Internal Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ferri Raffaele Department of Neurology, IRCCS Oasi Troina (EN), Italy aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Bella Rita Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Alagona Giovanna Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Carnemolla Anna Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Pennisi Giovanni Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine Walter de Gruyter 42/9(2004-09-01), 1032-1035 1434-6621 42:9<1032 2004 42 cclm CC0 http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-gruyter