HOMOCYSTEINE, PYRIDOXINE, FOLATE AND VITAMIN B12 LEVELS IN CHILDREN WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

Abstract

Background: In our study, we aimed to evaluate the serum homocysteine levels, pyridoxine, folate and vitamin B12 levels in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD). Subjects and methods: This study included 30 newly diagnosed drug-naive children with ADHD (23 males and 7 female, mean age 9.3 +/- 1.8 years) and 30 sex-and age matched healthy controls. The diagnosis of ADHD was made according to DSM-V criteria. Children and adolescents were administered the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Aged Children, Present and Lifetime Version, the Conners' Parent Rating Scale-Revised, Long Form, the Conners' Teacher Rating Scale and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Revised (WISC-R) for all participants. Homocysteine, pyridoxine, folate and vitamin B12 levels were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Homocysteine, pyridoxine, folate and vitamin B12 levels were significantly lower in children with ADHD compared with their controls (p<0.05). A positive significant correlation was observed between the all WISC-R scores and vitamin B12 level in patients (r=0.408, p=0.025). Conclusions: The results obtained in this study showed that reduced homocysteine, pyridoxine, folate and vitamin B12 levels could be a risk factor in the etiology of ADHD.