Homocysteine and holotranscobalamin and the risk of Alzheimer disease: a longitudinal study
Hooshmand B, Solomon A, Kåreholt I, Leiviskä J, Rusanen M, Ahtiluoto S, Winblad B, Laatikainen T et al.. Neurology, 2010-10-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Objective To examine the relation between serum levels of homocysteine (tHcy) and holotranscobalamin (holoTC), the active fraction of vitamin B12, and risk of incident Alzheimer disease (AD) in a sample of Finnish community-dwelling elderly. Methods A dementia-free sample of 271 subjects aged 65-79 years derived from the Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Dementia (CAIDE) study was followed up for 7 years to detect incident AD. The association between serum tHcy and holoTC with AD was analyzed with multiple logistic regression after adjusting for several potential confounders, including common vascular risk factors. Results The odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence interval [CI]) for AD were 1.16 (1.04-1.31) per increase of 1 μmol/L of tHcy at baseline and 0.980 (0.965-0.995) for each increase of 1 pmol/L baseline holoTC. Adjustment for several potential confounders including age, sex, education, APOE ε4 allele, body mass index, Mini-Mental State Examination, smoking, stroke, and blood pressure did not alter the associations: ORs (95% CI) for AD became 1.19 (1.01-1.39) for tHcy and 0.977 (0.958-0.997) for holoTC. Adjusting for holoTC attenuated the tHcy-AD link (OR changed from 1.16 to 1.10, 95% CI 0.96-1.25). The holoTC-AD relationship was less influenced by controlling for tHcy (OR changed from 0.980 to 0.984, 95% CI 0.968-1.000). Addition of folate did not change any of the results. Conclusions This study suggests that both tHcy and holoTC may be involved in the development of AD. The tHcy-AD link may be partly explained by serum holoTC. The role of holoTC in AD should be further investigated.
Key findings
- Results The odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence interval [CI]) for AD were 1.16 (1.04-1.31) per increase of 1 μmol/L of tHcy at baseline and 0.980 (0.965-0.995) for each increase of 1 pmol/L baseline holoTC.
- Addition of folate did not change any of the results.
- Conclusions This study suggests that both tHcy and holoTC may be involved in the development of AD.
Why it matters
In this Finnish cohort, higher homocysteine and lower holotranscobalamin at baseline were linked to higher risk of developing Alzheimer disease over 7 years. The study suggests these markers may be involved in disease development but does not show that changing them prevents it.
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Study details
- Participants271
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 41/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, so that was left out: it earned 39 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 41 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2010 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 271 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 | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 2 / 7 | Cited 14 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.8 citations a year over 18 year(s) since 2010 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 1.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 7 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Miia Kivipelto: h-index 107 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Karolinska Institutet: institution h-index 1,477 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 20956786) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 39 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 39 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 41 out of 100. |
| Total | 41 / 100 | — |
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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
Hooshmand, B., Solomon, A., Kåreholt, I., Leiviskä, J., Rusanen, M., Ahtiluoto, S., et al. (2010). Homocysteine and holotranscobalamin and the risk of Alzheimer disease: a longitudinal study. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e3181f88162
Vancouver
Hooshmand B, Solomon A, Kåreholt I, Leiviskä J, Rusanen M, Ahtiluoto S, et al. Homocysteine and holotranscobalamin and the risk of Alzheimer disease: a longitudinal study. Neurology. 2010. doi:10.1212/wnl.0b013e3181f88162. PMID: 20956786.
BibTeX
@article{hooshmand2010-20956786,
author = {Hooshmand, B. and Solomon, A. and Kåreholt, I. and Leiviskä, J. and Rusanen, M. and Ahtiluoto, S. and Winblad, B. and Laatikainen, T. and others},
title = {{Homocysteine and holotranscobalamin and the risk of Alzheimer disease: a longitudinal study}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0b013e3181f88162},
pmid = {20956786},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e3181f88162}
}
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