Voutilainen S, Alfthan G, Nyyssönen K, Salonen R, Salonen J T
Research Institute of Public Health, University of Kuopio, Finland.
Ann Med. 1998 Jun;30(3):300-6. doi: 10.3109/07853899809005859.
Homocysteine is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for atherothrombotic arterial diseases. We investigated the relation between plasma concentrations of total homocysteine (tHcy) and common carotid artery intima-media wall thickness, measured by B-mode ultrasonography, in 513 asymptomatic men and women from eastern Finland aged 45-69 years. The subjects were examined in 1994-95 at the baseline of the Antioxidant Supplementation in Atherosclerosis Prevention (ASAP) study, a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled two by two factorial trial on the effect of vitamin E and C supplementation in the prevention of atherosclerotic progression. The subjects were assigned into two categories according to the plasma tHcy concentration; concentration over 11.5 micromol/L (highest quartile) or concentration below 11.5 micromol/L. In this study population the mean plasma tHcy concentration was 10.0 micromol/L, and the prevalence of plasma tHcy concentration exceeding 11.5 micromol/L was 33% in men and 18% in women. The adjusted mean intima-media thickness of the right and left common carotid arteries was 1.12 mm in men with elevated plasma tHcy concentration and 1.02 mm in men with a plasma tHcy concentration below 11.5 micromol/L (P = 0.029). In women there was no significant difference. We conclude that elevated plasma tHcy concentrations are associated with early atherosclerosis, as manifested by increased common carotid artery intima-media wall thickness, in middle-aged eastern Finnish men.
同型半胱氨酸日益被认为是动脉粥样硬化性血栓形成疾病的一个风险因素。我们调查了来自芬兰东部年龄在45至69岁的513名无症状男性和女性中，通过B型超声测量的血浆总同型半胱氨酸（tHcy）浓度与颈总动脉内膜中层厚度之间的关系。这些受试者于1994 - 1995年在动脉粥样硬化预防中的抗氧化剂补充（ASAP）研究的基线期接受检查，该研究是一项关于补充维生素E和C对预防动脉粥样硬化进展影响的随机双盲安慰剂对照二乘二析因试验。根据血浆tHcy浓度将受试者分为两类：浓度超过11.5微摩尔/升（最高四分位数）或浓度低于11.5微摩尔/升。在这个研究人群中，血浆tHcy的平均浓度为10.0微摩尔/升，血浆tHcy浓度超过11.5微摩尔/升的患病率在男性中为33%，在女性中为18%。血浆tHcy浓度升高的男性，其左右颈总动脉的调整后平均内膜中层厚度为1.12毫米，而血浆tHcy浓度低于11.5微摩尔/升的男性为1.02毫米（P = 0.029）。在女性中没有显著差异。我们得出结论，在芬兰东部中年男性中，血浆tHcy浓度升高与早期动脉粥样硬化相关，表现为颈总动脉内膜中层厚度增加。
