High Homocysteine Levels are Closely Associated with the Categories of Coronary Artery Diseases as well as Low Status of Folic Acid and Vitamin B12

Abstract

Background: Homocysteine (Hcy) has been considered as an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). Folic acid and vitamin B12 are two vital regulators in Hcy metabolic process. We evaluated the associations between Hcy and the categories of CAD as well as the levels of folic acid and vitamin B12. Methods: Hcy, folic acid and vitamin B12 from 292 CAD patients, including 73 acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 116 unstable angina pectoris (UAP), 103 stable angina pectoris (SAP), and 100 non-CAD controls were measured, and the data were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: Hcy concentrations of AMI patients were the highest, and UAP patients were second, and SAP patients were the third higher, which were significantly higher than controls (p<0.01). Compared to SAP patients, patients with AMI and UAP had higher Hcy levels with approximately average elevated (4-5) μmol/L, while SAP patients were more higher Hcy with approximately 8 μmol/L than controls. However, the levels of folic acid and vitamin B12 had opposite results, whose levels in AMI group had the lowest, while in controls had the highest. There were strongly moderate negative correlations between Hcy and folic acid (r=-0.67, p<0.001) and vitamin B12 (r=-0.56, p<0.001). Conclusions: The present study confirms that high Hcy levels are closely associated with the categories of CAD as well as low status of folic acid and vitamin B12.