Duthie Susan J, Whalley Lawrence J, Collins Andrew R, Leaper Steve, Berger Kerstin, Deary Ian J
Rowett Research Institute, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2002 May;75(5):908-13. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/75.5.908.
Old age is associated with reduced cognitive performance. Nutritional factors may contribute to this association.
We tested associations between cognitive performance and plasma vitamin B-12, folate, and homocysteine concentrations in the elderly.
We studied survivors of the Scottish Mental Surveys of 1932 (Aberdeen 1921 Birth Cohort, or ABC21) and 1947 (Aberdeen 1936 Birth Cohort, or ABC36), which surveyed childhood intelligence quotient. We measured folate, vitamin B-12, and homocysteine concentrations in fasting blood samples and cognitive performance by the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), National Adult Reading Test (NART), Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM), Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), digit symbol (DS) subtest, and block design (BD) subtest.
Homocysteine was higher in the ABC21 than in the ABC36 (P < 0.0001). There were positive correlations between folate and vitamin B-12 and negative correlations between homocysteine and both folate and vitamin B-12. MMSE, RPM, AVLT, DS, and BD scores were higher in the ABC36. In the ABC21, folate, vitamin B-12, and MMSE score were positively correlated and homocysteine was negatively correlated with RPM, DS, and BD scores. Folic acid was positively correlated with AVLT and DS scores. In the ABC36, folate was positively correlated with BD score. After adjustment for childhood intelligence quotient, partial correlations were strengthened between vitamin B-12 and NART score and between homocysteine and RPM score but weakened between red blood cell folate and DS score.
B vitamins and homocysteine are associated with cognitive variation in old age. In the ABC21 but not the ABC36, homocysteine accounted for approximately 7-8% of the variance in cognitive performance. This may prove relevant to the design of neuroprotective studies in late life.
老年与认知能力下降有关。营养因素可能导致这种关联。
我们测试了老年人认知能力与血浆维生素B-12、叶酸和同型半胱氨酸浓度之间的关联。
我们研究了1932年苏格兰智力调查（阿伯丁1921年出生队列，或ABC21）和1947年（阿伯丁1936年出生队列，或ABC36）的幸存者，这两项调查对儿童智商进行了评估。我们通过简易精神状态检查表（MMSE）、国家成人阅读测试（NART）、瑞文渐进性矩阵测验（RPM）、听觉言语学习测试（AVLT）、数字符号（DS）分测验和积木图案（BD）分测验，测量了空腹血样中的叶酸、维生素B-12和同型半胱氨酸浓度以及认知能力。
ABC21队列中的同型半胱氨酸水平高于ABC36队列（P<0.0001）。叶酸与维生素B-12之间呈正相关，同型半胱氨酸与叶酸和维生素B-12之间均呈负相关。ABC36队列中的MMSE、RPM、AVLT、DS和BD得分更高。在ABC21队列中，叶酸、维生素B-12和MMSE得分呈正相关，同型半胱氨酸与RPM、DS和BD得分呈负相关。叶酸与AVLT和DS得分呈正相关。在ABC36队列中，叶酸与BD得分呈正相关。在对儿童智商进行校正后，维生素B-12与NART得分之间以及同型半胱氨酸与RPM得分之间的偏相关性增强，但红细胞叶酸与DS得分之间的偏相关性减弱。
B族维生素和同型半胱氨酸与老年时的认知差异有关。在ABC21队列而非ABC36队列中，同型半胱氨酸约占认知能力差异的7-8%。这可能与晚年神经保护研究的设计相关。
