Insulin resistance and endothelial function are improved after folate and vitamin B12 therapy in patients with metabolic syndrome: relationship between homocysteine levels and hyperinsulinemia

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) in the context of insulin resistance, prediabetes & type 2 diabetes.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 2 patients taking part.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were older adults, both men and women.

A double-blind, parallel, identical placebo-drug, randomized study was performed for 2 months in 50 patients.

Patients were randomly allocated to two groups.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and parallel-group study.

Because people in this Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12), so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12), giving a reference point.

Groups ran in parallel: each of the patients stayed in one arm throughout.

The methods mention a period of 2 months.

In group 1, patients were treated with diet plus placebo for 2 months.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Endothelium, Vascular, Folic Acid, Hematinics, Homocysteine, Hyperinsulinism, Metabolic Syndrome and Risk Factors.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) in 2 patients in people with insulin resistance, prediabetes & type 2 diabetes over 2 months.

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.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2004 (European journal of endocrinology), a journal based in England.

More context: the Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) compound page, Insulin resistance, prediabetes & type 2 diabetes research.