Folate and vitamin B12 levels in levodopa-treated Parkinson's disease patients: their relationship to clinical manifestations, mood and cognition.
We tested the hypothesis that mood, clinical manifestations and cognitive impairment of levodopa-treated Parkinson's disease (PD) patients are associated with vitamin B12 and folate deficiency. To this end, we performed this cross-sectional study by measuring serum folate and vitamin B12 blood levels in 111 consecutive PD patients. Levodopa-treated PD patients showed significantly lower serum levels of folate and vitamin B12 than neurological controls, while depressed patients had significantly lower serum folate levels as compared to non-depressed. Cognitively impaired PD patients exhibited significantly lower serum vitamin B12 levels as compared to cognitively non-impaired. In conclusion, lower folate levels were associated with depression, while lower vitamin B12 levels were associated with cognitive impairment. The effects of vitamin supplementation merit further attention and investigation.
Triantafyllou
Nikolaos I
NI
Department of Neurology, Aeginition Hospital, Athens University Medical School, Athens, Greece.
Nikolaou
Chrysoula
C
Boufidou
Fotini
F
Angelopoulos
Elias
E
Rentzos
Michael
M
Kararizou
Evangelia
E
Evangelopoulos
Maria-Eleftheria
ME
Vassilopoulos
Dimitrios
D
D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D014805:Vitamin B 12 / Q000097:blood*
D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D007980:Levodopa; D005492:Folic Acid; D014805:Vitamin B 12