Andersson A, Brattström L, Israelsson B, Isaksson A, Hamfelt A, Hultberg B
Department of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
Eur J Clin Invest. 1992 Feb;22(2):79-87. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2362.1992.tb01940.x.
Homocysteine is a probably atherogenic amino acid, the fasting and post-methionine load serum concentrations of which have been reported to be much lower in premenopausal women than in men and postmenopausal women. This difference has been proposed to explain the reduced proneness of premenopausal women to vascular disease. We measured both free and total plasma homocysteine concentrations both fasting and post-methionine load, in 169 healthy subjects. Twelve subjects (7%) had distinctly abnormal plasma homocysteine values. Among the remaining 157 subjects, neither fasting nor post-load values of free or total homocysteine were lower in premenopausal women (n = 46) than in men of similar age (n = 41) or postmenopausal women (n = 37). Fasting but not post-load values were lower in postmenopausal women than in men of similar age (n = 33), and lower among the women as a whole (n = 83) than among the men (n = 74). In men, fasting values increased with age, and paralleled age-related decreases in the concentrations of homocysteine metabolism cofactors (serum vitamin B12, blood folate, and plasma pyridoxal 5-phosphate). Both in men and in women, fasting total plasma homocysteine values were significantly and negatively correlated to serum vitamin B12 and blood folate concentrations. Whether the small differences in plasma homocysteine values between the present men and women may be a contributory factor vis-à-vis their different proneness to vascular disease has yet to be settled.
同型半胱氨酸可能是一种致动脉粥样硬化氨基酸，据报道，绝经前女性空腹及蛋氨酸负荷后血清浓度远低于男性和绝经后女性。有人提出这种差异可解释绝经前女性血管疾病易感性较低的原因。我们对169名健康受试者测量了空腹及蛋氨酸负荷后血浆中游离和总同型半胱氨酸浓度。12名受试者（7%）血浆同型半胱氨酸值明显异常。在其余157名受试者中，绝经前女性（n = 46）的游离或总同型半胱氨酸空腹及负荷后值并不低于年龄相仿的男性（n = 41）或绝经后女性（n = 37）。绝经后女性的空腹值低于年龄相仿的男性（n = 33），但负荷后值并非如此，且总体女性（n = 83）的空腹值低于男性（n = 74）。在男性中，空腹值随年龄增加，且与同型半胱氨酸代谢辅助因子（血清维生素B12、血叶酸和血浆磷酸吡哆醛）浓度随年龄的降低平行。男性和女性的空腹血浆总同型半胱氨酸值均与血清维生素B12和血叶酸浓度呈显著负相关。目前男性和女性血浆同型半胱氨酸值的微小差异是否可能是导致他们血管疾病易感性不同的一个促成因素，还有待确定。
