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. 2021 Apr 17;22(1):364.
doi: 10.1186/s12891-021-04231-7.

Low serum vitamin B12 levels are associated with degenerative rotator cuff tear

Jae Hwa Kim  1 , Go-Tak Kim  1 , Siyeoung Yoon  1 , Hyun Il Lee  2 , Kyung Rae Ko  3 , Sang-Cheol Lee  1 , Do Kyung Kim  4 , Jaeyeon Shin  5 , So-Young Lee  6 , Soonchul Lee  7
Affiliations

Low serum vitamin B12 levels are associated with degenerative rotator cuff tear

Jae Hwa Kim et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Vitamin B12 (Vit B12) deficiency results in elevated homocysteine levels and interference with collagen cross-linking, which may affect tendon integrity. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether serum Vit B12 levels were correlated with degenerative rotator cuff (RC) tear.

Methods: Eighty-seven consecutive patients with or without degenerative RC tear were enrolled as study participants. Possible risk factors (age, sex, medical history, bone mineral density, and serum chemistries including glucose, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, homocysteine, Vitamin D, Vit B12, homocysteine, and folate) were assessed. Significant variables were selected based on the results of univariate analyses, and a logistic regression model (backward elimination) was constructed to predict the presence of degenerative RC tear.

Results: In the univariate analysis, the group of patients with degenerative RC tear had a mean concentration of 528.4 pg/mL Vit B12, which was significantly lower than the healthy control group (627.1 pg/mL). Logistic regression analysis using Vit B12 as an independent variable revealed that Vit B12 concentrations were significantly correlated with degenerative RC tear (p = 0.044). However, Vit B12 levels were not associated with tear size.

Conclusion: Low serum levels of Vit B12 were independently related to degenerative RC tear. Further investigations are warranted to determine if Vit B12 supplementation can decrease the risk of this condition.

Keywords: Degenerative; Rotator cuff; Tear; Vitamin B12.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of results after inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied in this study. *Rotator cuff
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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