Effect of Vitamins in Prevention of Alzheimer’s Development: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

Vitamins have demonstrated anti-Alzheimer’s efficacy in clinical investigations however, results are inconclusive therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis. Systematic literature searches were conducted on electronic databases using different combinations of key words for vitamins and Alzheimer’s disease. Randomized controlled trials of vitamins reporting ADAS CoG and MMSE scores were included. Effect size and 95% confidence interval (CI) were pooled separately for both endpoints The search yielded 40 studies, 6 of them met inclusion criteria. Three studies were pooled for ADAS-cog change from baseline. The combined results showed that there was no significant difference between the placebo and the vitamin group (mean difference: -0.19, 95% CI: -1.38 to 1.00, P= 0.76). The I2 value (82%), and P value for distribution (P= 0.004) showed that data were heterogeneous. The sensitivity analysis showed that the mean difference between the two treatment arms varied from -0.72 to 0.37. Six studies were pooled for MMSE change from baseline. The combined results showed that there was no significant difference between the placebo and vitamin group (mean difference: 0.28, 95% CI:-0.08 to 0.63, P= 0.12). The I2 values was 0%, showing a homogeneous distribution. The sensitivity analysis showed that the mean difference between the two treatment arms varied from 0.06 to 0.37. Overall, the treatment effect of vitamins was comparable to the effect of placebo. There was no significant difference between two therapies in prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.