Vitamin B12 and Homocysteine Levels Predict Different Outcomes in Early Parkinson's Disease

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) in the context of parkinson's disease in this randomized controlled trial publication.

However, little is known about B12 in early PD.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are middle-aged adults, both men and women.

The researchers measured vitamin B12 and other B12 status determinants (methylmalonic acid, homocysteine, and holotranscobalamin) in 680 baseline and 456 follow-up serum samples collected from DATATOP participants with early, untreated PD.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized and double-blind study.

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

Blinding on both sides kept the participants and researchers unaware of who received Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12).

Outcomes included the UPDRS, ambulatory capacity score (sum of UPDRS items 13-15, 29&30), and MMSE, calculated as annualized rates of change.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Antioxidants, Antiparkinson Agents, Cognition Disorders, Homocysteine, Mental Status Schedule, Parkinson Disease and Predictive Value of Tests.

Author keywords: cognitive impairment, cyanocobalamin, gait instability and hyperhomocysteinemia.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and double-blind study of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) in people with parkinson's disease.

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 2018 (Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) compound page, Parkinson's disease research.