Homocysteine, folic acid, cyanocobalamin, and frailty in older people: findings from the "Invece. Ab" Study

The database includes the raw data of the article “Homocysteine, Folic Acid, Cyanocobalamin, and Frailty in Older People: Findings From the “Invece. Ab” Study”.

Aim of the work was to verify the association of homocysteine (HOcy), cyanocobalamin (B12), and folic acid (FO) plasma concentrations with frailty and to underline the influence of these biomarkers on frailty incidence in a community dwelling older population, studied longitudinally (2012, 2014 and 2018 waves).

The database contains data obtained by the evaluations of plasma levels of i) HOcy, ii) B12 and iii) FO using chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay on an Architect 2000 analyzer (Abbott) within 3h of blood collection. Briefly, we found that frail subjects increased from the 2014 wave to the 2018 wave of the study. Moreover, the median concentration of HOcy increased with age only in males and it showed a significant positive correlation with the Frailty Index (FI) at all three waves of the study; no positive correlation was instead reported for B12 and FO. HOcy seems to be a predictor of cumulative incidence of frailty (during the six years of the study), independent of age, sex, and education, although HOcy80 (19.4μmol/l - cutoff for the 80th percentile) showed only a positive trend in this sense. On the contrary HOcy90 (23.3μmol/l - cutoff for the 90th percentile) significantly influenced the cumulative incidence of frailty. B12 and FO showed no relationship with the cumulative incidence of frailty. Finally, subjects with plasma HOcy concentrations in the top quintile (HOcy80) had five fewer frailty-free months; this finding was independent of age, sex, and education. A comparable frailty-free survival time, was found for plasma HOcy concentrations in the top decile (HOcy90).

To conclude, high plasma concentrations of HOcy, could be a factor that increases the likelihood of becoming frail and becoming frail sooner; these results showed a clear association with frailty. Moreover, the role of B12 and FO plasma concentrations was found to be marginal.