B vitamins to enhance treatment response to antidepressants in middle-aged and older adults: results from the B-VITAGE randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Study answer

What this study found

Adjunctive B vitamins did not improve the primary 12-week remission outcome, but they were associated with better sustained antidepressant response over 52 weeks and fewer relapses among those remitted by week 12. Remission at week 12 was 79.4% with vitamins versus 78.1% with placebo (p = 0.840), while remission over 52 weeks favored vitamins with an odds ratio of 2.49 (1.12-5.51). Relapse after week-12 remission was lower with vitamins, with an odds ratio of 0.33 (0.12-0.94), and the reduction in MADRS scores over time was not significant between groups (p = 0.739). Benefits were more…

Study & population

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in community-dwelling adults aged 50 years or older with DSM-IV-TR major depressive disorder in the Perth metropolitan region of Australia.

Intervention

An oral daily capsule of vitamin B12 0.5 mg, folic acid 2 mg, and vitamin B6 25 mg was given as adjunctive treatment to citalopram after breakfast for 52 weeks, compared with placebo.

Key limitation

The primary short-term outcome was null, and the trial had a modest sample size with attrition over 52 weeks, which limits precision.

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Original abstract