Atherosclerosis and Lipoproteins |
| Abstract |
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6 months
posttransplantation) renal transplant recipients (RTRs) can be
effectively treated with combined B-vitamin supplementation featuring
supraphysiological doses of folic acid. There are
no controlled data evaluating the comparative efficacy of
supraphysiological versus standard multivitamin
dose folic acid supplementation in reducing fasting total homocysteine
(tHcy) levels among RTRs. We block-randomized 60 chronic, stable RTRs
on the basis of their screening fasting tHcy level to 3 groups of 20
subjects treated for 12 weeks with folic acid at either 2.4 (group 1),
0.4 (ie, standard multivitamin dose) (group 2), or 0.0 (group 3) mg/d.
All 60 study participants also received 50 mg/d vitamin B6
and 0.4 mg/d vitamin B12. The mean percent reductions
(±SEM) in fasting tHcy were as follows: group 1, 32.3±2.4%; group 2,
23.4±2.3%; and group 3, 19.1±2.3%. ANCOVA accounting for the
pretreatment matching and adjusted for pretreatment levels of fasting
tHcy, folate, and albumin; change in creatinine
during the study; and cyclosporine A use revealed
significant overall group differences (P=0.005) and
significant differences between groups 1 and 2 (P=0.038)
and groups 1 and 3 (P=0.001), but not between groups 2
and 3 (P=0.153). Moreover, a
2
analysis of participants with pretreatment tHcy levels
15 µmol/L (n=29) indicated that a significantly greater
proportion of those in group 1 achieved posttreatment levels <12
µmol/L: group 1, 5 of 10 (50%); group 2, 1 of 11 (9%); and group 3,
0 of 8 (0%) (P=0.016; test of trend
P=0.007). We conclude that a
supraphysiological dose of folic acid is superior
to standard multivitamin dosing for the reduction of fasting tHcy
levels in chronic RTRs.
Key Words: hyperhomocysteinemia renal insufficiency treatment controlled trial
| Introduction |
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66% of the patients
treated.10 11
RTRs are clearly not refractory7 to the tHcy-lowering
effects of supraphysiological doses of folic acid.
However, the RTR population, as a "model" for renal
insufficiency,12 may require greater than standard US
multivitamin amounts of folic acid to optimally lower fasting tHcy
levels. To address this question, we performed a block-randomized,
controlled study of the comparative efficacy of
supraphysiological dose (2.4 mg/d) versus standard
US multivitamin dose (0.4 mg/d) and placebo dose (0.0 mg/d) folic acid
supplementation in reducing fasting tHcy levels among chronic (ie,
6
months posttransplantation), stable RTRs. Previously, we demonstrated
the significant independent effect of 50 mg/d vitamin
B6 on the postmethionine loading increase in tHcy
levels among RTRs.7 Others8 13 have
highlighted the potential adjunctive therapeutic role of oral vitamin
B12 at 0.4 to 2.0 mg/d for the reduction of
fasting tHcy, particularly in persons
55 years of age. In light of
these collective data, the most appropriate tHcy-lowering regimen for
clinical trials designed to test the hypothesis that such treatment may
reduce arteriosclerotic outcomes among RTRs would
be a combination of folic acid and vitamins B6
and B12. Accordingly, we conducted our folic acid
dosing study among RTRs uniformly assigned 50 mg/d vitamin
B6 and 0.4 mg/d vitamin
B12.
| Methods |
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6 months posttransplantation with no clinical evidence
of acute renal graft rejection) who did not use supplements or had
abstained from taking any supplements containing folic acid, vitamin
B12, or vitamin B6 for
6
weeks before the screening visit for the study. No subjects had taken
trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole14 for
2 months before this
screening visit. Participants were matched on the basis of their
screening (initial) fasting tHcy levels according to the follow
algorithm: tHcy <15 µmol/L, matched within ±2 µmol/L;
tHcy 15 to 25 µmol/L, matched within ±3 µmol/L; and tHcy
>25 µmol/L, matched within ±4 µmol/L. They were then
randomly assigned in blocks to 1 of 3 regimens: group 1, folic acid
2.4, vitamin B6 50, and vitamin
B12 0.4 mg/d (n=20); group 2, folic acid 0.4,
vitamin B6 50, and vitamin
B12 0.4 mg/d (n=20); and group 3, folic acid 0.0,
vitamin B6 50, and vitamin
B12 0.4 mg/d (n=20). Treatment assignments were
made by a pharmacist who was blinded to all other aspects of the study.
Laboratory analyses, data entry, and data analyses were
performed by code so that treatment assignments remained concealed.
Compliance with treatment was assessed by pill counts and determination
of the change in plasma vitamin status. Fasting (10 to 14 hours) blood samples were collected twice before treatment and twice during week 12 of treatment, as described elsewhere.4 Plasma tHcy levels were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection,15 plasma folate levels were measured by a microbiological (Lactobacillus casei) assay,16 plasma pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) levels were measured by radioenzymatic (tyrosine decarboxylase) assay,17 and plasma vitamin B12 levels were ascertained by radioassay. Serum creatinine and albumin were measured by standard automated clinical chemistry laboratory techniques. To eliminate interassay variability, all analytes were batch-assayed from aliquots (which had been cryopreserved at -70°C) obtained during each of the 4 study visits.
Using fasting tHcy data obtained from all 60 participants at the
initial pretreatment screening, with 20 subjects block-randomized to
each of the 3 groups, we estimated that there was 80% power at a
2-tailed
value of 0.05 to detect a 10% absolute difference between
the 2.4- and 0.4-mg/d folic acid treatments, as well as a 10% absolute
difference between the 0.4- and 0.0-mg/d folic acid treatments.
All laboratory analyte values reported are based on averages of 2
pretreatment and posttreatment values. Descriptive statistics included
means (±SEM, or 95% confidence intervals [CI]) and frequencies
(percentages). Baseline continuous variables were compared by
ANOVA, and categorical variables by
2
analysis. Continuous variables were assessed with both
untransformed and natural logtransformed values. Treatment effects on
percentage changes in fasting tHcy levels were presented as
([average pretreatment level minus average posttreatment level]
divided by average pretreatment level) times 100 and were compared by
general linear modeling with ANCOVA. To assess the relative independent
effects of the 3 treatments, the ANCOVA accounted for the pretreatment
matching and adjusted for the pretreatment levels of fasting tHcy,
folate, and albumin; the change in creatinine
during the study; and use of cyclosporin A immunosuppression. A
2 analysis was performed among
participants with pretreatment tHcy levels
15 µmol/L to assess
the relative proportion of such individuals in each treatment group who
achieved posttreatment levels <12 µmol/L. Furthermore, an
adjusted logistic regression analysis was conducted to compare
the relative proportion of individuals (odds ratio, with 95% CI) with
pretreatment levels of
15 µmol/L in the high-dose versus
standard multivitamin dose folic acid groups who achieved posttreatment
levels <12 µmol/L. Overall compliance with the study capsules
was confirmed by assessing the mean increase (percentage change) in
plasma PLP and vitamin B12 levels among all 60
participants by paired t tests. Reported probability values
were based on 2-tailed calculations. All statistical analyses
were performed with SYSTAT software (version 7.0.1, SPSS).
| Results |
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2 analysis of participants with
pretreatment tHcy levels
15 µmol/L (n=29) indicated that a
significantly greater proportion of those in group 1 achieved
posttreatment levels <12 µmol/L: group 1, 5 of 10 (50%); group
2, 1 of 11 (9%); and group 3, 0 of 8 (0%) (Fishers exact test
P=0.016; Cochrans test of linear trend
P=0.007). Finally, in a direct post hoc comparison of group
1 (2.4 mg folic acid) and group 2 (0.4 mg folic acid), a logistic
regression analysis revealed that the odds ratio for achieving
a posttreatment fasting tHcy level of <12 µmol/L among those
with pretreatment levels of
15 µmol/L was 7.7 (95% CI, 1.1 to
57.5; P=0.047), group 1 relative to group 2, after
adjustment for pretreatment tHcy, folate, and creatinine
levels or change in creatinine levels during the study.
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| Discussion |
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Cereal grain flour products fortified voluntarily by the
manufacturer with 140 µg folic acid/100 g flour began
appearing in the United States after March, 1996.18 19 The
availability of such products (ie, all enriched wheat, corn, or
rice flour goods) was widespread in southeast New England by July 1997
(John Watson, President, Watson Foods, New Haven, Conn, personal
communication) and was mandated throughout the United States by January
1, 1998.19 All the RTRs participating in the present
investigation had been consuming such products for
6 months
before their initial screening examination and throughout the course of
the study. Findings from the population-based Framingham Offspring
Study20 indicate a dramatic impact of folic acid
fortification in the general population among nonsupplement users: a
doubling of plasma folate levels, with a >90% decline in the
prevalence of low plasma folate (ie, <3 ng/mL) status and a 50%
decline in the prevalence of mild (ie, tHcy >13 µmol/L) fasting
hyperhomocysteinemia. The very low point prevalence of plasma folate
<3 ng/mL (ie, 2 of 60, or 3.3%) in the renal transplant recipients
examined in the present study is completely consistent with
the prevalence of folate <3 ng/mL (1.7%; 95% CI, 0.0% to 5.4%)
among 248 nonusers of supplements in the Framingham Offspring
Study similarly examined after the advent of fortification.
Moreover, we recently reported21 postfortification-era
data comparing fasting plasma tHcy levels determined in a total of 86
RTRs with stable allograft function and 175 coronary artery
disease patients whose serum creatinine was
1.4 mg/dL.
The prevalence of fasting tHcy levels
12 µmol (69.8% versus
10.9%, P<0.001) was markedly increased in the RTRs despite
a much younger mean age and a relative preponderance of women. The odds
ratio (95% CI) for a tHcy level
12 µmol, when the RTRs were
compared with coronary artery disease patients, after
adjustment for potential confounding by age, sex, albumin, and
vitamin status, was 20.3 (7.9 to 52.2). These
findings21 prompted us to conclude that in the
present era of folic acidfortified cereal grain flour,
hyperhomocysteinemia is much more common in stable RTRs than in
coronary artery disease patients. Consequently, we contend that
RTRs may be a preferable high-risk target population for controlled
trials conducted in the United States evaluating the tenable hypothesis
that lowering tHcy levels will reduce
arteriosclerotic outcomes. The results from the
folic acid dosing study reported here lend further support to this
contention, from another perspective. The present data argue
strongly that in the context of a controlled clinical outcomes trial,
the RTR population, relative to any US target population with normative
renal function, would be much less responsive to "drop-in" effects
of over-the-counter multivitamin usage. However, RTRs would be very
responsive to supraphysiological-dose folic acid
supplementation, particularly when assessed by the overall percentage
who achieve normal fasting tHcy levels. Last, the ability to normalize
fasting tHcy levels with supraphysiological-dose
folic acidbased supplementation among the preponderance of RTRs with
fasting hyperhomocysteinemia distinguishes this patient population from
the ESRD population, who are largely refractory to such
therapy.10 11 22 For example, Table 3
illustrates final on-treatment tHcy
values of the 20 renal transplant recipients in the present study
compared with 15 ESRD patients on maintenance dialysis we
studied earlier.10 Thirteen (65.0%) of the renal
transplant recipients had final on-treatment tHcy levels maintained at
<12 µmol/L, versus only 1 (6.7%) of the dialysis patients,
despite a treatment regimen in the latter group that included 6-fold
greater amounts of folic acid and 2-fold greater amounts of both
vitamins B12 and B6.
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The pathogenesis of the persistent mild hyperhomocysteinemia characteristic of patients with chronic renal insufficiency, including RTRs, remains unknown.22 Impaired homocysteine metabolism in chronic renal insufficiency could result from losses of normal intrarenal homocysteine metabolism, the adverse effect of even subclinical uremia on extrarenal homocysteine metabolism, or combined intrarenal and extrarenal defects. Ultimately, whatever specific metabolic abnormalities in homocysteine metabolism occur among individuals with chronic renal insufficiency, they appear to cause a markedly increased folate requirement to maintain normative fasting tHcy levels in this patient population.
In conclusion, we have demonstrated that a supraphysiological dose of folic acid is superior to standard multivitamin dosing for the reduction of fasting tHcy levels in chronic RTRs. These findings have important implications for the design of clinical trials testing the tenable hypothesis that lowering tHcy levels may reduce arteriosclerotic outcomes among RTRs and patients with chronic renal insufficiency in general.
| Acknowledgments |
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Received April 7, 1999; accepted June 22, 1999.
| References |
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