2009, Cilt 7, Sayı 1, Sayfa(lar) 031-036 |
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Mental and Neurological Disorders Related to Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid Deficiencies |
Selen Şen, Gülgün Durat, Işık Atasoy |
Sakarya Üniversitesi, Sağlık Yüksekokulu, Sakarya |
Keywords: Vitamin B12, folic acid, homocysteine, mental disorder, neurological disorder |
The vitamin B12 and folic acid are water soluble vitamins the metabolisms of which are connected to
each other and which are necessary for various metabolic paths in the central nervous system. These
vitamins are used as cofactors in the conversion of the homocysteine, the high concentrations of which
are toxic to the neurons, disturbs the neuronal plasticity and promotes the neural degeneration, into
methionine; in the synthesis of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and neuropinephrine;
in the synthesis of SAM (S-Adenosyl Methionine) which functions in the methylation of the phospholipids
in the neural membranes; and in the synthesis of Succinyl Co A from methyl malonic acid. There are a
number of studies suggesting that the deficiencies of the vitamin B12 and folic acid, and the high
serum homocysteine levels heightened by the deficiencies of these two vitamins contribute to the
pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders such as dementia, bipolar disorder, paranoid psychosis, depressive
diseases, affect disorders, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, and various
neurological diseases such as subacute combined degeneration, ataxia, spasticity, myelopathy and
neuropathy. This collected article was prepared by using the existing studies regarding the theories explaining how the psychiatric and neurological disorders resulting from the B12 and folic acid
deficiencies emerge.
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