Einstein (São Paulo) (Mar 2005)
Evaluation of homocysteine in blood bank donors
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the use of plasma homocysteine levelsin blood bank donors as a risk marker for the development ofcardiovascular diseases in healthy individuals. Methods: Thirtynineblood donors were evaluated and a correlation was establishedbetween the plasma homocysteine levels and the different ageand gender groups. Results: The values of homocysteine levelswere found to be within the normal range, as expected for a healthypopulation. Only three male donors, aged between 40 and 60years, presented hyperhomocysteinemia within the risk rangefor developing cardiovascular disease. Comparing females andmales with regard to homocysteine levels, the values presentedstatistically significant differences, however of little relevance.Variance analysis did not show significant differences betweenthe considered age groups, regardless of gender, but there was aclear increase in homocysteine concentration in males betweenthe 5th and 6th decades of life. Conclusions: It was not possible tosuggest the use of plasma homocysteine levels as an early markerfor the development of cardiovascular diseases in healthy bloodbank donors, but one can speculate about a critical homocysteinelevel to be defined as a cutoff point, above which there wouldbe an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
