Cobalamin status is negatively correlated with vascular endothelial-cadherin in vegetarian and vegan women with vitamin B12 deficiency

Abstract

Optimal vitamin B₁₂ status is important for vascular health. Vascular endothelial (VE) cadherin is an adherent junction protein involved in the maintenance of a functional endothelium. We hypothesized that vitamin B₁₂ deficiency can negatively affect markers of vascular function, such as VE-cadherin. Within a human intervention study, we explored the possible association between cobalamin status (i.e., vitamin B₁₂, holotranscobalamin, and homocysteine) and VE-cadherin (as marker of vascular health) in vegetarians/vegans (VEG) with B₁₂ deficiency. The associations were evaluated at baseline and after 90-day supplementation with 2000 µg/wk of vitamin B₁₂. On the whole, an inverse association between VE-cadherin and holotranscobalamin (P = .014) and a positive association between VE-cadherin and homocysteine (P = .041) was documented at baseline. VEG women showed higher levels of VE-cadherin compared with VEG men (P = .044), suggesting an increase in endothelial permeability. The intervention with vitamin B₁₂ restored serum vitamin levels and improved the overall cobalamin status, whereas it did not affect VE-cadherin levels. The inverse association between holotranscobalamin and VE-cadherin was also maintained after intervention in women, corroborating the strong correlation between these 2 parameters. The results obtained seem to suggest a possible association between cobalamin status and VE-cadherin even if the intervention with B₁₂ failed to positively affect VE-cadherin levels. Thus, further studies are needed to corroborate these findings and clarify the contribution of a vitamin B₁₂ intervention on VE-cadherin levels in this target population. This trial was registered at ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN75099618).

Keywords: Holotranscobalamin; Homocysteine; VE-cadherin; Vascular health; Vegetarian diets.