The neurology of folic acid deficiency

The metabolism of folic acid and the metabolism of vitamin B12 are intimately linked such that deficiency of either vitamin leads to an identical megaloblastic anemia. The neurologic manifestations of folate deficiency overlap with those of vitamin B12 deficiency and include cognitive impairment, dementia, depression, and, less commonly, peripheral neuropathy and subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord. In both deficiency states there is often dissociation between the neuropsychiatric and the hematologic complications. There is a similar overlap and dissociation between neurologic and hematologic manifestations of inborn errors of folate and vitamin B12 metabolism. Low folate and raised homocysteine levels are risk factors for dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, and depression. Even when folate deficiency is secondary to psychiatric illness due to apathy or poor diet it may eventually aggravate the underlying disorder in a vicious circle effect. Clinical responses to treatment with folates are usually slow over weeks and months, probably due to the efficient blood-brain barrier mechanism for the vitamin, perhaps in turn related to the experimentally demonstrated excitatory properties of folate derivatives. The inappropriate administration of folic acid in the presence of vitamin B12 deficiency may lead to both neurologic and, later, hematologic relapse. Impaired maternal folate intake and status increases the risk of neural tube defects. Periconceptual prophylactic administration of the vitamin reduces, but does not eliminate the risk of neural tube defects even in the absence of folate deficiency. Folates and vitamin B12 have fundamental roles in central nervous system function at all ages, especially in purine, thymidine, neucleotide, and DNA synthesis, genomic and nongenomic methylation and, therefore, in tissue growth, differentiation and repair. There is interest in the potential role of both vitamins in the prevention of disorders of central nervous system development, mood, dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, and aging.