On the basis of recent retrospective and prospective studies, it is now widely accepted that increased total plasma homocysteine is a strong, independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Some studies have detected hyperhomocystememia in more than one - third of patients with coronary vascular disease. With an increase in total homcysteine (tHcy) concentration of 5 janol/L, the relative risk of cardiovascular disease has been estimated to increase by 60% for men and 80% for women. In a cross-sectional study we investigated tHcy concentration in 35-65 year-old ischemic heart patients (n=348, 157 men and 191 women) in a clinic in Tehran.
Fasting total homocysteine level was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and using the internal method. The data were analyzed statistically using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the independent t-test. The results showed that while 18.96% of the patients had a normal tHcy level (<8 /imol/lit), in 27.52%, 50.52%, and 2.8 % of them the level was almost high (8-<12 /imol/L), high (12-<25 /imol/L), and abnormally (>25 /imol/L), resapectively. The mean tHcy concentration in men was significantly higher than in women ( P= 0.02). More extensive studies should be conducted to assess the tHcy status in the Iranian population at large.
