Hypohomocysteinemia may increases the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease: A nationwide population-based prospective cohort study. Issue 7 (July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bae, Jong Bin; Han, Ji Won; Song, Junghan; Lee, Kyunghoon; Kim, Tae Hui; Kwak, Kyung Phil; Kim, Bong Jo; Kim, Shin Gyeom; Kim, Jeong Lan; Moon, Seok Woo; Park, Joon Hyuk; Ryu, Seung-Ho; Youn, Jong Chul; Lee, Dong Young; Lee, Dong Woo; Lee, Seok Bum; Lee, Jung Jae; Jhoo, Jin Hyeong; Kim, Ki Woong
• Is Part Of: Clinical nutrition. Volume 40:Issue 7(2021)
• Page Start: 4579
• Page End: 4584
• Publication Date: 2021-07
• Subjects: Homocysteine -- Dementia -- Alzheimer disease -- Vitamin -- Folic acid; AD Alzheimer's disease -- IRB Institutional Review Board -- CIRS Cumulative Illness Rating Scale -- GDS Geriatric Depression Scale -- DM Diabetes mellitus -- APOE apolipoprotein E -- tHcy total homocysteine -- DMSO Dimethyl sulfoxide -- HR Hazards ratios -- SAM S-adenosylmethionine -- SAH S-adenosylhomocysteine; Critically ill -- Nutrition -- Periodicals; Diet therapy -- Periodicals; Parenteral feeding -- Periodicals; Enteral feeding -- Periodicals; Enteral Nutrition -- Periodicals; Parenteral Nutrition -- Periodicals; Metabolism -- Periodicals; Diétothérapie -- Périodiques; Alimentation parentérale -- Périodiques; Alimentation entérale -- Périodiques; Nutrition -- Périodiques; Diet therapy; Enteral feeding; Nutrition; Parenteral feeding; Electronic journals; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 615.854
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2021.05.034
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0261-5614

Abstract

Summary: Background: Hyperhomocysteinemia has been repeatedly found to increase the risk of dementia. However, the effects of hypohomocysteinemia on the risk of dementia have been barely investigated. If hypohomocysteinemia, like hyperhomocysteinemia, increases the risk of dementia, misuse or overuse of homocysteine-lowing agents such as vitamin supplements may increase the risk of dementia. Aims: To investigate whether hypohomocysteinemia, like hyperhomocysteinemia, could increase the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a large population-based cohort of older adults. Methods: This prospective cohort study followed 2655 randomly sampled, community-dwelling, non-demented individuals aged 60 years or older from 2010 to 2018. We measured baseline serum total homocysteine (tHcy) levels and examined the effect of serum tHcy on the risks of dementia and AD using Cox proportional hazards models. Results: During the follow-up period (mean = 5.4 years, SD = 0.9), dementia and AD developed in 85 and 64 participants, respectively. Not only the participants with high serum tHcy (≥10.6 μmol/L) but also those with low serum tHcy (≤8.9 μmol/L) were 4–5 times more likely to develop dementia and AD compared to those with serum tHcy levels between 9.0 and 10.5 μmol/L. With the increase in serum tHcy concentration, the use of vitamin supplements decreased, and 41.2% of the participants with low serum tHcy (≤8.9 μmol/L) were taking vitamin supplements. Conclusions: Not only hyperhomocysteinemia but also hypohomocysteinemia considerably increased the risk of dementia and AD in older adults. The risk of dementia that results from overuse or misuse of vitamin supplements should be acknowledged and homocysteine-lowering health policies should be tailored to consider dementia risks that are associated with hypohomocysteinemia.