Anemia, hematinic deficiencies, and gastric parietal cell antibody positivity in burning mouth syndrome patients with or without hyperhomocysteinemia

Abstract Background/purpose Our previous study found that 170 of 884 burning mouth syndrome (BMS) patients have hyperhomocysteinemia. This study assessed whether these 170 BMS patients with hyperhomocysteinemia had significantly higher frequencies of anemia, hematinic deficiencies, and serum gastric parietal cell antibody (GPCA) positivity than 714 BMS patients without hyperhomocysteinemia or 442 healthy control subjects. Materials and methods The blood hemoglobin (Hb) and serum iron, vitamin B12, folic acid, homocysteine, and GPCA levels in 170 BMS patients with hyperhomocysteinemia, 714 BMS patients without hyperhomocysteinemia, and 442 healthy control subjects were measured and compared. Results We found that 170 BMS patients with hyperhomocysteinemia had significantly higher frequencies of macrocytosis, blood Hb and serum iron, vitamin B12, and folic acid deficiencies, and serum GPCA positivity than 442 healthy control subjects (all P-values  Conclusion BMS patients with hyperhomocysteinemia had significantly higher frequencies of macrocytosis, anemia, serum iron, vitamin B12, and folic acid deficiencies, and serum GPCA positivity than healthy control subjects or BMS patients without hyperhomocysteinemia.