Baseline characteristics of the patients by treatment group
| Folic acid (n = 15) | Placebo (n = 16) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| MTHFR, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase; MS, methionine synthase. | |||
| Values are arithmetic means (SD) for age, folate intake, and serum vitamin B12, median (range) for body mass index, and number (%) for alcohol intake, smoking, and genotype. | |||
| **p<0.01 compared with the folic acid group. | |||
| †n = 15. | |||
| n (M/F) | 7/8 | 8/8 | |
| Age (y) | 63.9 (11.9) | 63.8 (9.7) | |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 25.3 (19.8–49.4) | 25.0 (19.8–36.8) | |
| Folate intake (μg/day) | 341 (118) | 368 (156)† | |
| Serum vitamin B12 (ng/l) | 446 (235) | 461 (235) | |
| Alcohol intake (g/day) | |||
| Lower third (<2) | 7 (47) | 3 (19) | |
| Middle third (2–37) | 5 (33) | 6 (38) | |
| Upper third (>37) | 3 (20) | 7 (44) | |
| Smoking | |||
| Current smoker | 1 (7) | 8 (50)** | |
| Non-smoker | 14 (93) | 8 (50) | |
| MTHFR 677C→T genotype | |||
| CC | 10 (67) | 9 (56) | |
| CT | 5 (33) | 5 (31) | |
| TT | 0 (0) | 2 (13) | |
| MS 2756A→G genotype | |||
| AA | 10 (67) | 6 (38) | |
| AG | 5 (33) | 9 (56) | |
| GG | 0 (0) | 1 (6) | |