Objective: The vitamin B12 plays a role as a cofactor for synthesis of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin. Therefore, deficiency of vitamin B12 can cause psychiatric symptoms by effecting affect, perception, behaviors and sleep cycle. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the sociodemographic properties, blood hemoglobin values and psychiatric diagnoses of patients with B12 deficiency in inpatient psychiatry clinic of Necmettin Erbakan University Faculty of Medicine between 01.07.2012 -01.07.2013.
Method: The medical records including sociodemographic properties, blood hemoglobin values and psychiatric diagnoses of patients with B12 deficiency in the inpatient clinic were screened retrospectively. Blood B12 levels of the cases are analyzed by coulter counter (Beckman dx1800), and by chemiluminescence method. In this method, the reference range of B12 is 127-505 pg/ml. SPSS 18.0 software for Windows was used for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics were used for the evaluation of data.
Results: In this study, medical records of 508 patients were screened. 71 (14%) of 508 patients had B12 levels lower than 127 pg/ml. 44 (62%) males and27 (38%) females(71 patients, in total) with B12 deficiency were gathered. The mean age of the all participants was 38.55±14.46 years. The mean age of females was 36.41±13.69, and the mean age of males was 39.86±14.91. The most common psychiatric diagnoses were manic episode of bipolar disorder (28.2%), depressive episode of bipolar disorder (8.5%), major depression (23.9%), paranoid schizophrenia (18.1%) and anxiety disorders (9.9%). Less frequent diagnoses were conversion disorder (4.2%), Obsessive compulsive disorder (4.2%), schizoaffective disorder (2.8%), dysthymia (1.4%), anorexia nervosa (1.4%), lithium intoxication (1.4%), delusional disorder (1.4%) and dementia (1.4%). 11 (15.5% ) of 71 patients had hemoglobin values lower than 12.1 g/dl.
Conclusion: In the literature, there are several case reports and a small study about B12 deficiency in psychiatric disorders. Affective disorders especially depression, psychotic disorders and dementia were found to be related to B12 deficiency in studies and case reports. In this study, diagnoses of affective disorders and psychotic disorders were more common than the other diagnoses. Although, it was rarely reported, psychiatric disorders may be the first manifestation of B12 deficiency. Double blind, randomized, controlled studies must be done about the role of vitamin B12 in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders.