Relationship of homocysteine, folic acid and vitamin B₁₂ with depression in a middle-aged community sample

Abstract

Low folic acid and high homocysteine, but not low vitamin B12 levels, are correlates of depressive symptoms in community-dwelling middle-aged individuals. The effects of folic acid and homocysteine are overlapping but distinct.

Serum folate and homocysteine and depressive symptoms among Japanese men and women

“…The protective association between serum folate and depressive symptoms in this study has been observed in many (Bjelland et al, 2003;Morris et al, 2003;Ramos et al, 2004;Sachdev et al, 2005;Dimopoulos et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2008), but not all (Penninx et al, 2000;Tiemeier et al, 2002) studies. The association was consistently found among populations with an average age of less than 70 years (Bjelland et al, 2003;Morris et al, 2003;Sachdev et al, 2005;Dimopoulos et al, 2007).…”

“…Administration of folic acid was also shown to be associated with early recovery from depression (Fava et al, 1997;Taylor et al, 2003), suggesting a therapeutic importance of this nutrient. A protective role of folate in depression has been further supported by various epidemiologic studies, in which either dietary folate intake (Tolmunen et al, 2003(Tolmunen et al, , 2004aSanchez-Villegas et al, 2006;Murakami et al, 2008) or blood folate concentrations (Bjelland et al, 2003;Morris et al, 2003;Ramos et al, 2004;Sachdev et al, 2005;Dimopoulos et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2008) or SNPs involved in folate metabolism (Gilbody et al, 2007a) was used as the exposure index. In a recent meta-analysis of 11 studies, persons with low levels of serum, low red blood cell or low intake of folate had a 1.4 times increased risk of depressive symptom, compared with those with high folate status (Gilbody et al, 2007b).…”

“…Higher homocysteine concentrations, a state suggestive of chronic folate deficiency, may also contribute to the pathogenesis of depression due to its potential toxicity to neurons and blood vessels (Bottiglieri, 2005;Reynolds, 2006). Several epidemiologic studies (Bjelland et al, 2003;Tolmunen et al, 2004b;Sachdev et al, 2005;Dimopoulos et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2008) have identified an increased prevalence of depressive state associated with high homocysteine concentrations.…”

“…In spite of the accumulating evidence to support a protective role of folate in depression, epidemiologic data about blood folate or homocysteine and depression are not entirely consistent; of eight studies that measured serum, plasma, or red blood cell folate concentrations (Penninx et al, 2000;Tiemeier et al, 2002;Bjelland et al, 2003;Morris et al, 2003;Ramos et al, 2004;Sachdev et al, 2005;Dimopoulos et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2008), two did not detect significant association (Penninx et al, 2000;Tiemeier et al, 2002), and of nine studies that measured blood homocysteine concentrations (Penninx et al, 2000;Tiemeier et al, 2002;Bjelland et al, 2003;Morris et al, 2003;Tolmunen et al, 2004b;Sachdev et al, 2005;Dimopoulos et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2008;Kamphuis et al, 2008), four did not find an association (Penninx et al, 2000;Tiemeier et al, 2002;Morris et al, 2003;Kamphuis et al, 2008). Moreover, the association between these substances in serum, plasma, or red blood cell and depression has been studied mainly among Western populations (Penninx et al, 2000;Tiemeier et al, 2002;Bjelland et al, 2003;Morris et al, 2003;Ramos et al, 2004;Tolmunen et al, 2004b;Sachdev et al, 2005;Dimopoulos et al, 2007;Kamphuis et al, 2008) but is limited among Asian populations (Kim et al, 2008).…”

“…Moreover, the association between these substances in serum, plasma, or red blood cell and depression has been studied mainly among Western populations (Penninx et al, 2000;Tiemeier et al, 2002;Bjelland et al, 2003;Morris et al, 2003;Ramos et al, 2004;Tolmunen et al, 2004b;Sachdev et al, 2005;Dimopoulos et al, 2007;Kamphuis et al, 2008) but is limited among Asian populations (Kim et al, 2008). Recently, we reported a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms associated with high folate intake among Japanese male employees (Murakami et al, 2008).…”