Authors : F. Fallahi , S. Sadeghian and M. Salarifar
Abstract: Recent studies show that hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis, especially coronary artery disease. The variations in plasma homocysteine levels in different populations have made it difficult to establish a threshold level for plasma homocysteine. The aim of this study, was to determine a plasma homocysteine level as a threshold, above, which there is a risk for the development of early coronary artery disease. This study was conducted, as a case-control study on 294 patients under the age of 45, who were hospitalized for coronary artery angiography in 2 academic centers in Tehran, with regard to the known risk factors for coronary artery disease and measures of plasma homocysteine levels. When the study exclusion criteria were applied, 243 people remained in the study. Subsequently, 102 people out of the remaining population (42.9%) had angiographically-proven coronary artery disease. Following the verification of other CAD risk factors in both groups and exclusion of their impacts with statistical methods, the influence of plasma homocysteine levels was studied. The risk of early coronary artery disease increased significantly at a plasma level of 14.4 μ mole L-1 (OR = 1.99; p = 0.036). At higher homocysteine levels, the chance of early coronary artery disease increased proportionately in a way that a three-fold increase was observed (noted) at levels higher than 23.5 μ mole L-1.
F. Fallahi , S. Sadeghian and M. Salarifar , 2009. The Relationship Between Plasma Homocysteine Levels and Early Coronary Artery Disease. Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 4: 116-120.