Adolescents are vulnerable to increased plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) and to insufficient folate status. Folate status and Hcy metabolism are linked to cognitive functions, but academic achievement by adolescents has not been studied in this respect.
To assess a possible link between academic achievement in adolescents and tHcy and its determinants, dietary folate intake, MTHFR 677 TT homozygosity, and socioeconomic status (SES).
A study of 386 Swedish adolescents aged 15 years in whom plasma tHcy and MTHFR 677C ?T genotype were assayed. The sum of school grades in 10 core subjects obtained in the final semester of compulsory 9 years of schooling was used as outcome measure of academic achievement. Lifestyle and SES data were obtained from questionnaires.
Academic achievement was strongly correlated to tertiles of tHcy (negatively; P = .023) and to tertiles of folate intake (positively; P