title: Vitamin B12, homocysteine and depressive symptoms: a longitudinal study among older adults.
abstract: The roles of vitamin B12and homocysteine concentration in depression are not clear. We investigated cross-sectional and prospective associations of serum vitamin B12and plasma homocysteine with depressive symptoms in Dutch older adults.
  
  
  
  In the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), blood was collected in 1995/1996 among 1352 men and women aged ⩾65 years. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) six times from 1995/1996 to 2011/2012. Multiple linear regression and mixed models were used to assess whether vitamin B12and homocysteine were associated with severity at baseline and course of depressive symptoms over 16 years. Cox regression analyses were performed for the associations with incidence of depression (CES-D ⩾16 and/or antidepressant use). All analyses were adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and lifestyle factors.
  
  
  
  Vitamin B12was neither cross-sectionally (n=1205) nor prospectively (n=1012) associated with depressive symptoms (adjusted β for CES-D over time, lowest versus highest quartile: -0.04 (95% confidence interval (CI): -0.15-0.06)). We also found no association with incident depression (n=853), except for a higher risk of depression over time in younger participants (aged 64.8-73.4 years; continuous vitamin B12, adjusted hazard ratio per s.d.: 1.38 (95% CI: 1.10-1.72)). For homocysteine, no associations were found, except for a lower risk of depression in younger participants.
  
  
  
  Our study did not confirm earlier shown associations of serum vitamin B12and plasma homocysteine with severity and course of depressive symptoms and incidence of depression in older adults. Further research into the influence of homocysteine metabolism on mental health is needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: L E M
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Elstgeest
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Brouwer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center/GGZ inGeest, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B Wj H
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Penninx
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistic and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: van Schoor
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Internal Medicine, Nutrition and Dietetics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Visser
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014805:Vitamin B 12 / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D006710:Homocysteine; D014805:Vitamin B 12