Efficacy of methylcobalamin on lowering total homocysteine plasma concentrations in haemodialysis patients receiving high-dose folic acid supplementation

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12), published as a randomized controlled trial.

Who Took Part

The study group was 21 patients.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

All patients were treated for 3 weeks.

A methionine-loading test was conducted before and after supplementation.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized study.

The patients were allocated by chance, so the Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) group and the comparison group should start out alike.

The methods mention a period of 3 weeks.

The following measurements were also made before and after supplementation for each group: serum folic acid, B(6), and vitamin B(12) (B(12)) concentrations (including measurement of proportion of methylcobalamin fraction).

Twelve HD patients receiving methylcobalamin alone served as the HD control group and seven healthy volunteers served as the normal control group for this study.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Folic Acid, Homocysteine, Methionine, Osmolar Concentration, Renal Dialysis, Vitamin B 12 and Vitamin B 6.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) in 21 patients over 3 weeks.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 8 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2002 (Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association), a journal based in England.

More context: the Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) compound page, all human trials.