Plasma Total Homocysteine, Folate, and Vitamin B12 Status and Hospitalizations for Cardiovascular Disease

Abstract

Elevated plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Also known is that plasma folate and vitamin B12 influence homocysteine metabolism as cosubstrate and cofactor, respectively. This population-based study was conducted to evaluate the plasma concentrations of tHcy, folate, and vitamin B12 in 54 older patients aged ≥51 years (40 males; 14 females) of Nice hospital cardiology service. After excluding cases with a serum creatinine >120 mmol/L, we established the test properties of a plasma tHcy concentration 15 μmol/L.

Keywords

• cardiovascular disease
• hospitalizations
• aging
• homocysteine
• folates
• vitamin b12