Thornton W E, Thornton B P
South Med J. 1977 Aug;70(8):919-22. doi: 10.1097/00007611-197708000-00006.
A review of the growing body of information regarding folic acid biochemistry indicates a relationship between folate metabolism and mental disturbance. Clinical correlations between altered mental functions associated with aging and lowered serum folate values are found to suggest that further studies are warranted. The fasting serum folate levels of two groups of subjects 65 years of age and older are compared after excluding the influence of drugs, alcohol, and gastrointestinal disease. The results show that those elderly persons with good dietary habits and mental acuity had no lowered serum folate levels. Thus, the suggestion that serum folate level normally falls with age is not confirmed. Additionally, it was found that 35% of similarly aged subjects with combined mental dysfunction and poor dietary habits had lowered serum folate values.
对有关叶酸生物化学的越来越多信息进行的综述表明，叶酸代谢与精神障碍之间存在关联。发现与衰老相关的精神功能改变与血清叶酸值降低之间的临床相关性表明有必要进行进一步研究。在排除药物、酒精和胃肠道疾病的影响后，比较了两组65岁及以上受试者的空腹血清叶酸水平。结果表明，那些饮食习惯良好且精神敏锐的老年人血清叶酸水平没有降低。因此，血清叶酸水平通常会随年龄增长而下降这一观点未得到证实。此外，还发现35% 同样年龄且合并精神功能障碍和饮食习惯不良的受试者血清叶酸值降低。
