Evaluation of Serum Levels of Some Water-Soluble Vitamin B Complexes in Cardiovascular Disease Patients

This study was carried out to investigate the serum levels of water-soluble vitamin B complexes (vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin B9 and vitamin B12) in patients with cardiovascular diseases attending Cardiac Clinic at ESUTH Enugu State. Blood samples were obtained using the venipuncture technique from twenty cardiovascular disease patients, consisting of ten male and ten female patients. They were aged-matched with ten male and ten female controls, respectively. The serum concentrations of vitamins B3, B6, B9 and B12 were estimated using the titration methods for B3 and B6 and spectrophotometric methods for B9 and B12, respectively, and data generated were subjected to statistical analysis. The results showed that the serum concentrations of vitamin B6, B12 and B9 were significantly higher (p=0.000, p=0.000 and p=0.004, respectively) in cardiovascular disease patients compared to controls. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in serum concentration of vitamin B3 (p=0.274) in cardiovascular disease patients compared to controls. Similarly, there were no significant differences in serum concentrations of vitamin B3, B6 and B9 (p=0.810, p=0.650, and p=0.478, respectively) in male cardiovascular disease patients compared to the females. On the other hand, the serum concentration of vitamin B12 was significantly lower (p= 0.012) in male patients compared to females. The correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation of vitamin B3 with B6 (r=0.564, p=0.010), whereas no significant correlation of vitamin B3 with B12 and B9 (r=0.137, p= 0.565 and r= -0.392, p=0.088 respectively) in cardiovascular disease patients. These results suggest that higher doses of these vitamins may play a role in reducing cardiovascular disease complications.