Study on the correlation between plasma homocysteine, folate acid and vitamin B12 levels and vascular de-mentia

Abstract

Objective To study on the correlation between plasma homocysteine （Hcy）, folate acid（FA） and vitamin B12 （VitB12） levels and vascular dementia （VD）. Methods To measure plasma Hcy, FA and vitamin B12 in 96 patients with VD,in 152 non-dementia cerebrovascular disease （ NDCVD ） and in 80 normal controls re- spectively, and results werw compared between each two groups by using student test. Cognitive status was evaluar by using mini mentai state examination （MMSE）. The effect of Hcy, FA and VitBn on VD and its cognitive function were analyzed. Results The levels of plasma Hcy in VD and NDCVD were higher than those in normal control grop, and there was significantly difference （t = 3.26,3.14, all P 〈 O. 01 ） , and the best high one is VD;The levels of plasma FA and VitBn in VD and NDCVD were lower than those in normal control grop, and there was significantly difference（ t = 3.16,2.98,3.21,2.91 ,all P 〈0.01 ） ,and the best low one is VD. The levels of plasma Hcy concentrations were in- creased and MMSE scores were decreased with severity of dementia, and there were negative correlation between MMSE scores and plasma Hcy concentrations （ r = - 0.69,P 〈 0.05 ）. Conclusion The levels of plasma Hcy corre- lated with VD. High-Hcy is one of possible rise factor for VD in senior. Both low-FA and low-VitB~z were indirect fac- tors for VD. Key words: Cysteine ; Folate acid ; Vitamin B 12 ; Dementia, vascular; Aged