Background
Elevated plasma homocysteine appears to be causally related to atherosclerosis by inducing both endothelial dysfunction and vascular structure alteration. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity, a non invasive means of measuring atherosclerosis, reflects arterial stiffness. In this study, we investigated a association between the plasma homocysteine level and arterial stiffness on Korean adults. Methods: The study group comprised 405 subjects selected from examinees in the Health Promotion Center. Medical history, medication, and life style were recorded through a questionnaire and physical examination was performed on all subjects. We measured glucose tolerance index, lipid profile, inflammatory index, plasma homocysteine level. We studied brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) as a measure of arterial stiffness. Results: 379 subjects were examined all components. Mean ages of 172 of male are 54.5 ± 8.7 years and those of female are 57.2 ± 7.0 years. The baPWV was observed to be positively correlated with age, blood pressure, hs-CRP, and homocysteine in male. In contrast male, age, BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, glucose tolerance index, lipid profile except for HDL cholesterol, hs-CRP, and homocysteine were positively correlated with baPWV in female. The baPWV was increased according to the level of plasma homocysteine in male. After controlling for risk factors of cardiovascular disease ,homocysteine was associated with increased baPWV. Conclusion: The results indicate that elevated plasma homocysteine was associated with baPWV in middle-aged male after adjustment to risk factors of cardiovascular disease.
