ScienceDaily
Your source for the latest research news
Follow Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Subscribe RSS Feeds Newsletters
New:
  • Black Death Shaped Evolution of Immunity Genes
  • Methane-Eating 'Borgs' Taking Earth's Microbes
  • Pain Relief Without Side Effects and Addiction
  • Accounting For Dark Energy and Dark Matter
  • Meet the First Neanderthal Family
  • Physicists Confirm Hitch in Proton Structure
  • Five Hours' Sleep a Night: Disease Risk
  • Energetics of Piercing Fangs and Claws
  • Hair Straightening Chemicals and Uterine Cancer
  • Ostriches With Similar Interests Form Groups
advertisement
Follow all of ScienceDaily's latest research news and top science headlines!
Science News
from research organizations

1

2

Folate and vitamin B12 reduce disabling schizophrenia symptoms in some patients

Date:
March 6, 2013
Source:
Massachusetts General Hospital
Summary:
Adding the dietary supplements folate and vitamin B12 to treatment with antipsychotic medication improved a core symptom component of schizophrenia in a study of more than 100 patients. The study focused on negative symptoms of schizophrenia -- which include apathy, social withdrawal, and a lack of emotional expressiveness. While the level of improvement across all participants was modest, results were more significant in individuals carrying specific variants in genes involved with folate metabolism.
Share:
FULL STORY

Adding the dietary supplements folate and vitamin B12 to treatment with antipsychotic medication improved a core symptom component of schizophrenia in a study of more than 100 patients. The study focused on negative symptoms of schizophrenia -- which include apathy, social withdrawal, and a lack of emotional expressiveness. While the level of improvement across all participants was modest, results were more significant in individuals carrying specific variants in genes involved with folate metabolism. The report from a team based at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) will appear in the journal JAMA Psychiatry (formerly Archives of General Psychiatry) and has been issued online.

advertisement

"The symptoms of schizophrenia are complex, and antipsychotic medications provide no relief for some of the most disabling parts of the illness. These include negative symptoms, which can be particularly devastating," says Joshua Roffman, MD, MMSc, of the MGH Department of Psychiatry, corresponding author of the JAMA Psychiatry paper. "Our finding that folate plus vitamin B12 supplementation can improve negative symptoms opens a new potential avenue for treatment of schizophrenia. Because treatment effects differed based on which genetic variants were present in each participant, the results also support a personalized medical approach to treating schizophrenia."

An essential nutrient, folate (or folic acid) is required for the synthesis of DNA and neurotransmitters and plays a role in the control of gene expression. Adequate folate intake during pregnancy can reduce the risk of birth defects -- in particular neural tube defects -- and studies have suggested that folate deficiency during pregnancy significantly increases the risk of schizophrenia among offspring. Earlier research by members of the MGH-based team associated low blood folate levels with more severe negative symptoms among patients with schizophrenia.

The current study was designed specifically to investigate whether supplementation with folate and B12 -- which can magnify the effects of folate -- reduced negative symptoms of schizophrenia. A 2011 pilot study found symptom improvement only among patients carrying a variant in a folate-pathway gene called MTHFR that reduced the gene's activity. To get a clearer picture of folate's effect on negative symptoms, the current study enrolled 140 patients with schizophrenia at community mental health centers in Boston, Rochester, N.Y., and Grand Rapids, Mich.

Participants were all taking antipsychotic medications -- which have been shown to alleviate positive symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions, but not negative symptoms -- and were randomized to receive daily doses of either folate and vitamin B12 or a placebo for 16 weeks. Every two weeks their medical and psychiatric status was evaluated, using standard symptom assessment tools along with measurements of blood levels of folate and homocysteine, an amino acid that tends to rise when folate levels drop. Nutritional information was compiled to account for differences in dietary intake of the nutrients. Participants' blood samples were analyzed to determine the variants they carried of MTHFR and three other folate-pathway genes previously associated with the severity of negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Among all 140 participants in the study protocol, those receiving folate and vitamin B12 showed improvement in negative symptoms, but the degree of improvement was not statistically significant compared with the placebo group. But when the analysis accounted for the variants in the genes of interest, intake of the two nutrients did provide significant improvement in negative symptoms, chiefly reflecting the effects of specific variants in MTHFR and in a gene called FOLH1. Variants in the other two genes studied did not appear to have an effect on treatment outcome.

While a low-functioning variant in FOLH1 had been associated with more severe negative symptoms in previous research, in this study it was the high-functioning FOLH1 variant that predicted a better treatment outcome. Measurement of participants' blood folate levels throughout the study provided an explanation for this unexpected finding. Those with the low-functioning FOLH1 variant started the trial with substantially lower folate levels, suggesting a problem with folate absorption. Although supplementation enabled their blood folate levels to eventually catch up with those of participants with the high-functioning variant, it was probably too late to produce symptom improvement during the 16-week trial period.

"For participants who did show a benefit, it took the full 16 weeks of treatment for that benefit to appear," Roffman explains. "While we don't know why this is the case, changes in gene expression -- which take time -- are a likely explanation. Folate plays a critical role in DNA methylation, which regulates gene expression, so it's plausible that its effects on negative symptoms act through gene expression changes. Participants with the low-functioning FOLH1 variant might eventually show a benefit of folate supplementation if treated for a longer period of time, but that needs to be investigated in future studies."

He adds that, while the benefits of supplementation for the overall group were modest, the lack of effective treatment for negative symptoms and the safety of folate and vitamin B12 supplementation support the need for larger-scale trials. In addition, the impact of genotype on this study's results suggests the need to investigate the role of folate pathway variants in conditions such as dementia and cardiovascular disease, in which low folate appears to increase risk but supplementation trials have had inconclusive results.

"We are now conducting a clinical trial of 1-methylfolate, which bypasses some of these folate-pathway enzymes and might have greater efficiency among individuals with low-functioning variants," explains Roffman, an assistant professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "Understanding more about the basic neural mechanisms of folate in patients with schizophrenia could help us generate more targeted and effective interventions to reduce and possibly even prevent symptoms."

make a difference: sponsored opportunity

Story Source:

Materials provided by Massachusetts General Hospital. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Joshua L. Roffman et al. Randomized Multicenter Investigation of Folate Plus Vitamin B12 Supplementation in Schizophrenia. JAMA Psychiatry, 2013 DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.900

Cite This Page:

  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
Massachusetts General Hospital. "Folate and vitamin B12 reduce disabling schizophrenia symptoms in some patients." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 March 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130306162237.htm>.
Massachusetts General Hospital. (2013, March 6). Folate and vitamin B12 reduce disabling schizophrenia symptoms in some patients. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 20, 2022 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130306162237.htm
Massachusetts General Hospital. "Folate and vitamin B12 reduce disabling schizophrenia symptoms in some patients." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130306162237.htm (accessed October 20, 2022).

  • RELATED TOPICS
    • Health & Medicine
      • Vitamin B
      • Vitamin
      • Mental Health Research
      • Vegetarian
    • Mind & Brain
      • Mental Health
      • Schizophrenia
      • Depression
      • Psychiatry
advertisement

  • RELATED TERMS
    • Psychopathology
    • Social psychology
    • Antioxidant
    • Social movement
    • Psychiatry
    • Schizophrenia
    • Mental illness
    • Dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia
advertisement

  Print   Email   Share

advertisement

1

2

3

4

5
Most Popular
this week

HEALTH & MEDICINE
Eating Late Increases Hunger, Decreases Calories Burned, and Changes Fat Tissue
Clusters of Genes Help Mice Live Longer
Study of Over 5 Million People's DNA Reveals Genetic Links to Height
MIND & BRAIN
Dogs Can Smell When We're Stressed, Study Suggests
Human Brain Cells in a Dish Learn to Play Pong in Real Time
Healthy Aging Requires an Understanding of Personality Types
LIVING & WELL
Did the Pandemic Change Our Personalities?
Watching TV With Your Child Can Help Their Cognitive Development, Study Suggests
Coffee Drinking Is Associated With Increased Longevity
advertisement

Strange & Offbeat
 

HEALTH & MEDICINE
RNA Origami Enables Applications in Synthetic Biology
Unlocking the Power of Our Emotional Memory
Robotic Drug Capsule Can Deliver Drugs to Gut
MIND & BRAIN
Our Brains Use Quantum Computation
Human Brain Cells in a Dish Learn to Play Pong in Real Time
Dogs Can Smell When We're Stressed, Study Suggests
LIVING & WELL
Researchers Develop Painless Tattoos That Can Be Self-Administered
Washing Dishes With Superheated Steam More Effective, Earth-Friendly
News Addiction Linked to Not Only Poor Mental Wellbeing but Physical Health Too, New Study Shows
Explore More
from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES

Addressing the Safety of High Folate Levels in the Older Population and Implications for Fortification in Ireland
June 15, 2020 — A new study challenges claims from some international scientific circles, that having high blood levels of folate (folic acid) increases the risk of poor cognition in older adults, especially in ...
Dietary Supplement May Help With Schizophrenia
Sep. 9, 2019 — A dietary supplement, sarcosine, may help with schizophrenia as part of a holistic approach complementing antipsychotic medication, according to a ...
Keep It Complex: Study Shows That Previous Research Oversimplified Schizophrenia Symptoms
Nov. 27, 2018 — Negative symptoms in schizophrenia can be so disabling that they interfere with a person's ability to attend school, begin a fulfilling career, and even live independently. Scientists suggest a new ...
Vitamin B12 Breakthrough for More Complete Vegetarian and Vegan Diets
May 17, 2018 — Scientists have made a significant discovery about how the vitamin content of some plants can be improved to make vegetarian and vegan diets more complete. Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is an essential ...
advertisement


SD
  • SD
    • Home Page
    • Top Science News
    • Latest News
  • Home
    • Home Page
    • Top Science News
    • Latest News
  • Health
    • View all the latest top news in the health sciences,
      or browse the topics below:
      Health & Medicine
      • Allergy
      • Alternative Medicine
      • Birth Control
      • Cancer
      • Diabetes
      • Diseases
      • Heart Disease
      • HIV and AIDS
      • Obesity
      • Stem Cells
      • ... more topics
      Mind & Brain
      • ADD and ADHD
      • Addiction
      • Alzheimer's
      • Autism
      • Depression
      • Headaches
      • Intelligence
      • Psychology
      • Relationships
      • Schizophrenia
      • ... more topics
      Living Well
      • Parenting
      • Pregnancy
      • Sexual Health
      • Skin Care
      • Men's Health
      • Women's Health
      • Nutrition
      • Diet and Weight Loss
      • Fitness
      • Healthy Aging
      • ... more topics
  • Tech
    • View all the latest top news in the physical sciences & technology,
      or browse the topics below:
      Matter & Energy
      • Aviation
      • Chemistry
      • Electronics
      • Fossil Fuels
      • Nanotechnology
      • Physics
      • Quantum Physics
      • Solar Energy
      • Technology
      • Wind Energy
      • ... more topics
      Space & Time
      • Astronomy
      • Black Holes
      • Dark Matter
      • Extrasolar Planets
      • Mars
      • Moon
      • Solar System
      • Space Telescopes
      • Stars
      • Sun
      • ... more topics
      Computers & Math
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Communications
      • Computer Science
      • Hacking
      • Mathematics
      • Quantum Computers
      • Robotics
      • Software
      • Video Games
      • Virtual Reality
      • ... more topics
  • Enviro
    • View all the latest top news in the environmental sciences,
      or browse the topics below:
      Plants & Animals
      • Agriculture and Food
      • Animals
      • Biology
      • Biotechnology
      • Endangered Animals
      • Extinction
      • Genetically Modified
      • Microbes and More
      • New Species
      • Zoology
      • ... more topics
      Earth & Climate
      • Climate
      • Earthquakes
      • Environment
      • Geography
      • Geology
      • Global Warming
      • Hurricanes
      • Ozone Holes
      • Pollution
      • Weather
      • ... more topics
      Fossils & Ruins
      • Ancient Civilizations
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • Dinosaurs
      • Early Humans
      • Early Mammals
      • Evolution
      • Lost Treasures
      • Origin of Life
      • Paleontology
      • ... more topics
  • Society
    • View all the latest top news in the social sciences & education,
      or browse the topics below:
      Science & Society
      • Arts & Culture
      • Consumerism
      • Economics
      • Political Science
      • Privacy Issues
      • Public Health
      • Racial Disparity
      • Religion
      • Sports
      • World Development
      • ... more topics
      Business & Industry
      • Biotechnology & Bioengineering
      • Computers & Internet
      • Energy & Resources
      • Engineering
      • Medical Technology
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Transportation
      • ... more topics
      Education & Learning
      • Animal Learning & Intelligence
      • Creativity
      • Educational Psychology
      • Educational Technology
      • Infant & Preschool Learning
      • Learning Disorders
      • STEM Education
      • ... more topics
  • Quirky
    • Top News
    • Human Quirks
    • Odd Creatures
    • Bizarre Things
    • Weird World
Free Subscriptions

Get the latest science news with ScienceDaily's free email newsletters, updated daily and weekly. Or view hourly updated newsfeeds in your RSS reader:

  • Email Newsletters
  • RSS Feeds
Follow Us

Keep up to date with the latest news from ScienceDaily via social networks:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Have Feedback?

Tell us what you think of ScienceDaily -- we welcome both positive and negative comments. Have any problems using the site? Questions?

  • Leave Feedback
  • Contact Us
About This Site  |  Staff  |  Reviews  |  Contribute  |  Advertise  |  Privacy Policy  |  Editorial Policy  |  Terms of Use
Copyright 1995-2022 ScienceDaily or by other parties, where indicated. All rights controlled by their respective owners.
Content on this website is for information only. It is not intended to provide medical or other professional advice.
Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily, its staff, its contributors, or its partners.
Financial support for ScienceDaily comes from advertisements and referral programs, where indicated.
— CCPA: Do Not Sell My Information — GDPR: Privacy Settings —