Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32355442›Full record

ArticleMolecular vision2020

A pilot study to assess the effect of a three-month vitamin supplementation containing L-methylfolate on systemic homocysteine plasma concentrations and retinal blood flow in patients with diabetes.

Doreen Schmidl, Kinga Howorka, Stephan Szegedi, Kristina Stjepanek, Stefan Puchner, Ahmed Bata, Ulrike Scheschy, Gerold Aschinger, René M Werkmeister, Leopold Schmetterer and 1 more

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular vision, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Trial
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Medical foods for lowering homocysteine in hypertensive patients.Journal of clinical hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.) · 2023
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Treatment of Glaucoma Patients with Flammer Syndrome.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021
    Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.

Doreen SchmidlDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Kinga HoworkaCenter for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Stephan SzegediDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Kristina StjepanekDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Stefan PuchnerDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Ahmed BataDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Ulrike ScheschyDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Gerold AschingerCenter for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
René M WerkmeisterCenter for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Leopold SchmettererDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Gerhard GarhoferDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Medical University of Vienna · ATNanyang Technological University · SG

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a three-month dietary supplementation with a methylfolate formulation on homocysteine plasma concentrations and ocular blood flow parameters in patients with diabetes. Methods: Twenty-four patients with diabetes received a dietary supplement (Oculofolin, Aprofol AG, Switzerland) containing 900 µg L‑methylfolate (levomefolate calcium or [6S]-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid, calcium salt), methylcobalamin, and other ingredients for three consecutive months. The patients' plasma homocysteine concentration and retinal blood flow were assessed at baseline and after three months of folate intake. Retinal blood flow was measured using a custom-built dual-beam Doppler optical coherence tomography (OCT) system. In addition, flicker-induced retinal vasodilatation was assessed by means of a commercially available dynamic vessel analyzer (IMEDOS, Jena, Germany). Results: Supplementation was well tolerated by all patients. After three months, plasma homocysteine concentration significantly decreased from 14.2 ± 9.3 to 9.6 ± 6.6 µmol/L (p < 0.001). In addition, a tendency toward an increased total retinal blood flow from 36.8 ± 12.9 to 39.2 ± 10.8 µl/min was observed, but this effect did not reach the level of significance (p = 0.11). Supplementation had no effect on retinal vessel diameter or flicker-induced vasodilatation. Conclusions: The present data show that a three-month intake of a dietary supplement containing methylfolate can significantly reduce blood homocysteine levels in patients with diabetes. This is of importance because higher homocysteine plasma levels have been found to be associated with an increased risk of vascular associated systemic diseases and eye diseases. Whether systemic methylfolate supplementation affects retinal perfusion must be studied in a larger population.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedBlood CirculationDiabetes MellitusDietary SupplementsFemaleHomocysteineHumansMaleMiddle AgedPilot ProjectsRetinaRetinal VesselsTetrahydrofolatesTomography, Optical Coherence5-methyltetrahydrofolateHomocysteinemecobalaminTetrahydrofolatesVitamin B 12Vitamins

Identifiers

PMID32355442
PMCPMC7190578
OpenAlexW3021413879

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.