Lowering of homocysteine concentrations in elderly men and women

B-vitamin supplementation has previously been shown to lower the concentrat ion of plasma total homocysteine, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Little is known about the homocysteine-lowering effects of low-dose B-vita mins in elderly individuals, who are prone to higher homocysteine levels du e to advanced age and a greater frequency of impaired vitamin status. We aimed to identify if and to what extent B-vitamins lower total homocyste ine and its subfractions in elderly individuals. Men and women (greater tha n or equal to 60 years) received either B-vitamins (400 mu g folic acid +1. 65 mg pyridoxine +3 mu g cyanocobalamin) or a placebo daily for 4 weeks. Su bjects in the vitamin group showed a significant decrease in plasma total h omocysteine during the first 2 weeks; thereafter, total homocysteine only s lightly decreased further resulting in a geometric mean reduction of -16.3% (95% CI: -11.3% to -21.0%) over the entire treatment period. Free homocyst eine decreased as well. However, the observed higher ratio of free/total ho mocysteine after 4 weeks of supplementation suggest a more pronounced reduc tion in protein-bound homocysteine. Low-dose B-vitamin supplementation is effective in lowering homocysteine in elderly individuals. Further studies are needed to be able to depict the e ffect of B-vitamin supplementation on different homocysteine subfractions i n plasma.