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Although nutrient deficiencies are thought to play roles in the development of depression, observational studies have yielded inconsistent results. This study aimed to investigate whether multiple marginal nutrient deficiencies are associated with symptoms of depression in community-dwelling older Taiwanese. Data from 1371 elderly adults recruited from the Elderly Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan was used in this study. Depressive symptom scores on depressed mood and emotions affecting daily life were derived from the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36). Hemoglobin, serum ferritin, plasma vitamins B6, B12, and folate concentration, and erythrocyte transketolase and glutathione reductase activation coefficients were measured. After adjusting for age, gender, cognitive function, physical activity, disease history, and medication in the multivariate analysis, anemia, and marginal B6 deficiency were significantly associated with the presence of depression symptoms, respectively. In addition, co-occurrence of vitamin B6 with low folate level and co-occurrence of anemia either with low vitamin B6 or with folate level were all associated with the depressive mood and with depressive emotions defined by SF-36 (odds ratios [OR] in the range of 2.32−7.13, all P values ≤.05). The magnitude of the ORs is larger when the number of deficiencies increased. Elderly people with coexisting marginal deficiencies of nutrients involved in the S-adenosylmethionine and hemoglobin production were more likely to experience depressed mood and emotion that affect daily activity. Examining status of these nutrients is worthy of consideration for older adults with depressed symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary. The biological effects of age, sex and vitamin status on plasma total homocysteine (tHcy), and association of hyperhomocysteinaemia with venous thromboembolism in Taiwanese Chinese individuals, were investigated. Eighty patients (16–85 years) with venous thrombophilia and 123 healthy subjects (15–85 years) without history of vascular thrombosis were studied for plasma levels of tHcy, folate and vitamin B12 . A multivariate analysis in healthy subjects revealed that plasma tHcy levels tended to increase with age (P < 0·001) and with decreasing plasma levels of folate (P =0·001) or vitamin B12 (P < 0·029); men tended to have higher plasma tHcy levels than women (P =0·006). Thrombotic risk assessment in a case–control study demonstrated that neither plasma level of tHcy [odds ratio (OR), 1·07; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0·96–1·18; P =0·210] nor hyperhomocysteinaemia (OR, 1·65; 95% CI, 0·50–5·49; P =0·415) was significantly associated with venous thrombophilia. The relationship between hyperhomocysteinaemia and recurrence of episode remained insignificant (P =0·560). We conclude that age, sex and vitamin status affect plasma tHcy but hyperhomocysteinaemia is possibly not an important risk factor for venous thrombophilia in Taiwanese Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]