Higher vitamin B12 levels in neurodevelopmental disorders than in healthy controls and schizophrenia: A comparison among participants between 2 and 53 years. Issue 6 (22nd April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hope, Sigrun; Nærland, Terje; Høiland, Anne Lise; Torske, Tonje; Malt, Eva; Abrahamsen, Tore; Nerhus, Mari; Wedervang–Resell, Kirsten; Lonning, Vera; Johannessen, Jarle; Steen, Nils Eiel; Agartz, Ingrid; Stenberg, Nina; Hundhausen, Thomas; Mørkrid, Lars; Andreassen, Ole A.
• Is Part Of: FASEB journal. Volume 34:Issue 6(2020)
• Page Start: 8114
• Page End: 8124
• Publication Date: 2020-04-22
• Subjects: autism -- cobalamin -- hypercobalaminemia -- intellectual disability -- TCN1; Biology -- Periodicals; Biology, Experimental -- Periodicals; 570
• DOI: 10.1096/fj.201900855RRR
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0892-6638

Abstract

Abstract: Recent studies suggest that both high and low levels of vitamin B12 (vitB12) may have negative health impacts. We measured VitB12 in patients with the Neurodevelopmental disorders (ND) (n = 222), comprised of Autism Spectrum Disorders, specific Developmental disorders, and Intellectual Disability (aged 2‐53 years), schizophrenia (n = 401), and healthy controls (HC) (n = 483). Age‐and gender‐adjusted vitB12 z‐scores were calculated by comparisons with a reference population (n = 76 148). We found higher vitB12 in ND (median 420 pmol/L, mean z‐score: 0.30) than in HC (316 pmol/L, z‐score: 0.06, P < .01) and schizophrenia (306 pmol/L, z‐score: −0.02, P < .001), which was significant after adjusting for age, gender, vitB12 supplement, folate, hemoglobin, leukocytes, liver, and kidney function ( P < .02). In ND, 20% (n = 44) had vitB12 above 650 pmol/L, and 1% (n = 3) had below 150 pmol/L (common reference limits). In 6.3% (n = 14) of ND, vitB12 was above 2SD of mean in the age‐and gender‐adjusted reference population, which was more frequent than in HC (n = 8, 1.6%), OR: 4.0, P = .001. Low vitB12 was equally frequent as in HC, and vitB12 z‐scores were equal across the age groups. To conclude, vitB12 was higher in ND than in HC and schizophrenia, suggesting a specific feature of ND, which warrants further studies to investigate the underlying mechanisms.