Korean J Lab Med.  2002 Jun;22(3):131-137.

Hyperhomocysteinemia as a Risk Factor for Coronary Artery Disease

• Oh GY
• Lee GI
• Hong KS
• Chung IM

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hyperhomocysteinemia is considered as a risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). In this study, we investigated the relationship between plasma homocysteine concentration and coronary artery disease.
METHODS
We measured plasma homocysteine concentration by fluorescent polarization immunoas-say (IMx, Abbott) in 58 healthy controls (39-72 years) and in 37 patients (42-84 years) who were diagnosed with stable angina (11), unstable angina (14), acute myocardial infarction (8), old myocardial infarction (1) and silent myocardial ischemia (3).
RESULTS
The risk of CAD was independently associated with old age, decreased HDL cholesterol and hyperhomocysteinemia (P >or=12.8 nmol/L) and adjusted odds ratios were 2.8, 3.4, and 6.0, respec-tively. The risk for CAD in the upper two homocysteine quartiles (P >or=10.8 nmol/L and 8.1- 10.7 nmol/L) was 11.1 (95% CI, 2.5- 49.4) times and 6.3 (95% CI, 1.4- 27.7) times higher than in the lowest quar-tile (<6.9 nmol/L) (P=0.002 and 0.014, respectively). The mean plasma homocysteine values (M +/- SD) were higher in CAD patients (11.8 +/- 7.4 nmol/L) than in the control group (8.0 +/- 2.4 mol/L) (P=0.0006). In the control group, the mean plasma homocysteine concentration in men was signifi-cantly igher than in women (9.1 vs. 7.2 mol/L, P=0.002). Age and logarithmically transformed plasma homocysteine levels exhibited significant positive correlation in controls (r=0.43, P=0.001), ut no significant correlation in CAD patients (r=-0.024, P=0.9). Plasma homocysteine levels were significantly higher in the elderly, male subjects and smokers in the univariate analysis.
CONCLUSIONS
Hyperhomocysteinemia is one of the independent risk factors for CAD.

Keyword

Hyperhomocysteinemia; Homocysteine; Coronary artery disease

MeSH Terms

Aged
Angina, Stable
Angina, Unstable
Cholesterol, HDL
Coronary Artery Disease*
Coronary Vessels*
Female
Homocysteine
Humans
Hyperhomocysteinemia*
Male
Myocardial Infarction
Myocardial Ischemia
Odds Ratio
Plasma
Risk Factors*
Cholesterol, HDL
Homocysteine