B12, Folate Reduce Schizophrenia Symptoms

BOSTONFolate and vitamin B12 supplementation reduced core schizophrenia symptoms in a multicenter study completed by Harvard Medical Center researchers. The results of the randomized, double blind, placcebo-controlled study are published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Researchers used 140 patients taking antipsychotic medications and randomly assigned them to either folate and vitamin B12 or placebo for 16 weeks (JAMA Psychiatry. 2013;():1-9. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.900.). They tested subjects for medical and psychiatric status every two weeks, and scientists analyzed blood samples for folate-pathway genes associated with severe depressive symptoms such as apathy and social withdrawal in schizophrenia patients. Supplementation improved symptoms of patients with these gene variants.

"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," said Joshua Roffman, MD, MMSc, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry, corresponding author.

"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."