Source
The Intensive Care Unit, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC. ych@csmu.edu.tw
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To investigate whether vitamin B(6) supplementation had a beneficial effect on lowering fasting plasma homocysteine concentrations in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients.
DESIGN:
A single-blind intervention study.
SETTING:
The study was performed at the Taichung Veterans General Hospital, the central part of Taiwan.
SUBJECTS:
A total of 50 subjects were identified by cardiac catheterization to have at least 70% stenosis of one major coronary artery. In all, 42 patients successfully completed this study.
INTERVENTIONS:
Patients were randomly assigned to one of five groups and treated with a daily dose of placebo (n=8), 5 mg vitamin B(6) (n=8), 10 mg vitamin B(6) (n=8), 50 mg vitamin B(6) (n=9), or 5 mg folic acid combined with 0.25 mg vitamin B(12) (n=9) for 12 weeks.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
Nutrient intakes were recorded by using 24-h diet recalls when patients returned to the cardiology clinic before the intervention (week 0) and at week 12. Vitamin B(6) status was assessed by direct measures (plasma pyridoxal 5'-phosphate) and indirect measures (erythrocyte alanine and aspartate aminotransaminase activity coefficient). Fasting plasma homocysteine, serum folic acid, and vitamin B(12) were measured.
RESULTS:
Fasting plasma homocysteine concentration did not respond to high or low doses of vitamin B(6) when compared with a placebo treatment after 12 weeks of supplementation. The mean fasting plasma homocysteine concentration, however, decreased significantly after 12 weeks of folic acid combined with vitamin B(12) supplementation (P=0.047). Further, within group, mean fasting plasma homocysteine concentration was nonsignificantly increased by 25.5, 16.2, and 18.3% in placebo, 10 mg/day and 50 mg/day vitamin B(6) supplemented groups, respectively; whereas folic acid combined with vitamin B(12) supplementation significantly reduced fasting plasma homocysteine concentration by 32% (P<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS:
Our results indicate that vitamin B(6) supplementation alone is less effective than folic acid combined with vitamin B(12) in lowering plasma homocysteine concentrations in CAD patients.
SPONSORSHIP:
This study was supported by the National Science Council, Taiwan, Republic of China (NSC-91-2320-B-040-023).