Ganji Vijay, Kafai Mohammad R
Department of Clinical Nutrition, College of Health Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
J Nutr. 2005 Sep;135(9):2253-6. doi: 10.1093/jn/135.9.2253.
Folate intake is inversely related to circulating total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations. Elevated tHcy is a risk factor for vascular diseases. The objectives of this study were to present plasma tHcy distributions and investigate the association between tHcy and sex, age, and race-ethnicity in U.S. children and adolescents (3264 boys and 3197 girls) using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 conducted in the post-folic acid fortification era. Plasma tHcy was higher in boys than in girls (P < 0.0001), and higher in older children (16-18 y old) than in younger children (3-15 y old) (P < 0.0001). The difference in plasma tHcy between boys and girls was greater in the 16- to 18-y-old group than in any other age group studied (P < 0.05). Age-adjusted plasma tHcy concentrations were approximately 6.8, approximately 10.5, and approximately 8.8% higher in boys than in girls in non-Hispanic White (NHW), non-Hispanic Black (NHB), and Mexican American/Hispanic (MA/H) children, respectively. Sex- and age-adjusted plasma tHcy concentrations (geometric means +/- SE) were 5.04 +/- 0.05, 5.01 +/- 0.06, and 4.99 +/- 0.06 micromol/L in the NHW, NHB, and MA/H groups, respectively. Race-ethnicity was not related to plasma tHcy in age-adjusted analysis for boys (P < 0.77) and girls (P < 0.26), and in sex- and age-adjusted analysis (P < 0.38) for all children. The plasma tHcy concentrations begin to rise between ages 8 and 11 y, and the age-related increase is greater in boys than in girls.
叶酸摄入量与循环总同型半胱氨酸（tHcy）浓度呈负相关。tHcy升高是血管疾病的一个危险因素。本研究的目的是利用1999 - 2000年和2001 - 2002年在叶酸强化时代进行的美国国家健康和营养检查调查的数据，呈现美国儿童和青少年（3264名男孩和3197名女孩）的血浆tHcy分布情况，并调查tHcy与性别、年龄和种族的关系。男孩的血浆tHcy高于女孩（P < 0.0001），年龄较大的儿童（16 - 18岁）高于年龄较小的儿童（3 - 15岁）（P < 0.0001）。16至18岁组男孩和女孩之间血浆tHcy的差异大于所研究的任何其他年龄组（P < 0.05）。在非西班牙裔白人（NHW）、非西班牙裔黑人（NHB）和墨西哥裔美国人/西班牙裔（MA/H）儿童中，年龄调整后的血浆tHcy浓度男孩分别比女孩高约6.8%、约10.5%和约8.8%。经性别和年龄调整后的血浆tHcy浓度（几何均值±标准误）在NHW、NHB和MA/H组中分别为5.04±0.05、5.01±0.06和4.99±0.06 μmol/L。在男孩（P < 0.77）和女孩（P < 0.26）的年龄调整分析以及所有儿童的性别和年龄调整分析（P < 0.38）中，种族与血浆tHcy无关。血浆tHcy浓度在8至11岁之间开始上升，且与年龄相关的升高在男孩中比在女孩中更大。
