生物谷报道：来自York大学和Hull York医学院的科学家们最近发现，在抑郁症和叶酸水平过低之间存在联系，叶酸是一种主要来自蔬菜的维生素。
发表于7月份Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health的文章中，由Simon Gilbody博士领导的York大学小组认为，结合之前的11项包含了15315名参与者的相关研究结果，他们确定在发生抑郁症和体内低叶酸浓度之间确实存在联系。
上个月，英国食品标准局曾建议英国健康部长采取强制措施在面包和面粉中加入叶酸，以起到防止神经管缺陷的作用。神经管缺陷将有可能造成流产、新生儿缺陷及很多终生残疾等。而现在，York大学研究小组的结果则证实，这一措施同样将有可能帮助治疗抑郁症。
Gibody博士表示：“我们的研究结果非常独特，因为它首次将这一有争议的领域的所有相关证据结合到了一起。尽管研究并不能直接证明低叶酸浓度将导致抑郁症，但我们确信这两者之间存在联系。有意思的是，同样存在一些实验证据证明补充叶酸有助于抑郁症患者的好转。因此我们建议进行大型的实验来证明这一观点是正确的。”
最近发表于刊物American Journal of Epidemiology上的来自同一个研究小组的文章中证实，患有抑郁症的人体内存在一种基因，该基因使得他们处理叶酸的效率变得低下。叶酸和大脑中某些使人感觉良好的物质产生有关，这一基因的发现为叶酸能有助于抑郁症患者康复带来了合理的解释。（引自教育部科技发展中心）
英文原文链接：http://www.physorg.com/news102082201.html
原始出处:
文章一：
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2007;61:631-637; doi:10.1136/jech.2006.050385
Is low folate a risk factor for depression? A meta-analysis and exploration of heterogeneity
Simon Gilbody1, Tracy Lightfoot2 and Trevor Sheldon1
1 Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK
2 Epidemiology and Genetic Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK
Correspondence to:
Dr S Gilbody
Department of Health Sciences, University of York, YO10 5DD, York, UK; sg519@york.ac.uk
Low folate has been causatively linked to depression, but research is contradictory. An association may arise due to chance, bias, confounding or reverse causality. A systematic review of observational studies which examined the association between depression and folate was conducted. 11 relevant studies (15 315 participants; three case–control studies, seven population surveys and one cohort study) examining the risk of depression in the presence of low folate were found. Pooling showed a significant relationship between folate status and depression (odds ratio (OR)pooled unadjusted = 1.55; 95% CI 1.26 to 1.91). This relationship remained after adjustment for potential confounding (OR)pooled adjusted = 1.42; 95% CI 1.10 to 1.83). Folate levels were also lower in depression. There is accumulating evidence that low folate status is associated with depression. Much of this evidence comes from case–control and cross-sectional studies. Cohort studies and definitive randomised-controlled trials to test the therapeutic benefit of folate are required to confirm or refute a causal relationship.
