Home › Research › Treatments
A pilot study of vitamins to lower plasma homocysteine levels in Alzheimer disease
Aisen PS, Egelko S, Andrews H, Diaz-Arrastia R, Weiner M, DeCarli C, Jagust W, Miller JW et al.. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 2003-03-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Objective Authors determined the impact of high-dose vitamin supplements on plasma homocysteine levels in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD). Methods Authors used an open-label trial of folic acid, vitamin B(12), and vitamin B(6), in combination for 8 weeks, with measurement of plasma homocysteine levels in the fasting state and after methionine-loading. A total of 69 subjects with AD were enrolled, including 33 who were taking standard multivitamin supplements; 66 were available at 8-week follow-up. Results The high-dose vitamin regimen was associated with a significant reduction in fasting and post-methionine-loading homocysteine. Reductions were greater in the subgroup not using multivitamins, but were also significant in the multivitamin users. Conclusion High-dose vitamin supplementation reduces homocysteine levels in patients with AD. The effect of supplementation on rate of cognitive decline will be assessed later in a randomized, double-blind study.
Key findings
- Results The high-dose vitamin regimen was associated with a significant reduction in fasting and post-methionine-loading homocysteine.
- Reductions were greater in the subgroup not using multivitamins, but were also significant in the multivitamin users.
Why it matters
This small open-label study found that high-dose vitamins lowered homocysteine levels in people with Alzheimer's disease. It did not test whether this affects cognitive decline, so it does not show a treatment or prevention benefit.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Treatments →
Study details
- Study designopen-label trial
- Participants69
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 39/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record and senior author's track record, so those were left out: it earned 36 of the 92 points we could judge it on, which is 39 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | Design recorded as “open-label trial”, which our rubric does not rank (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2003 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 69 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 2 / 2 | Randomised and blinded or placebo-controlled (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 2 / 7 | Cited 11 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.4 citations a year over 25 year(s) since 2003 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 1 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author P S Aisen holds only 8 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Georgetown University Medical Center: institution h-index 564 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | PubMed indexes it as a multicentre study |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 12611755) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 36 / 92 | Scored on 18 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 36 of the 92 points we could judge it on is 39 out of 100. |
| Total | 39 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription Unpaywall, Europe PMC and OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 10 Oct 2026), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Aisen, P. S., Egelko, S., Andrews, H., Diaz-Arrastia, R., Weiner, M., DeCarli, C., et al. (2003). A pilot study of vitamins to lower plasma homocysteine levels in Alzheimer disease. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajgp.11.2.246
Vancouver
Aisen PS, Egelko S, Andrews H, Diaz-Arrastia R, Weiner M, DeCarli C, et al. A pilot study of vitamins to lower plasma homocysteine levels in Alzheimer disease. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. 2003. doi:10.1176/appi.ajgp.11.2.246. PMID: 12611755.
BibTeX
@article{aisen2003-12611755,
author = {Aisen, P. S. and Egelko, S. and Andrews, H. and Diaz-Arrastia, R. and Weiner, M. and DeCarli, C. and Jagust, W. and Miller, J. W. and others},
title = {{A pilot study of vitamins to lower plasma homocysteine levels in Alzheimer disease}},
journal = {The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry},
year = {2003},
doi = {10.1176/appi.ajgp.11.2.246},
pmid = {12611755},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajgp.11.2.246}
}