Low vitamin B12 tied to worsening mobility, cognition in early Parkinson’s

Overall, there was a mean annualized increase in B₁₂ of 52.6 pmol/L, a mean annualized decrease of homocysteine of 0.83 mmol/L, and a mean annualized increase of holotranscobalamin of 14.7 pmol/L.

“These findings are consistent with improved nutritional status during the course of the study, likely attributed to subjects starting the optional [multivitamin] after the baseline visit and/or subjects changing their diets,” the research team said.

While the improvement in B₁₂ status did not lead to statistically significant improvements in UPDRS scores, the researchers said there was a trend toward improvement, which provides “support for a disease-modifying effect of B₁₂,” they wrote.

The researchers speculated that their findings of a link between low B₁₂ levels and worse outcomes could be attributed to an independent (comorbid) effect on the central and peripheral nervous systems, a direct effect on PD pathogenesis, or alternatively, that low B₁₂ may be a marker of an unknown associated factor.