Moderately Elevated Plasma Homocysteine, Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase Genotype, and Risk for Stroke, Vascular Dementia, and Alzheimer Disease in Northern Ireland

• Published in: Stroke (1970) Vol. 33; no. 10; pp. 2351 - 2356
• Main Authors: McIlroy, Stephen P., Dynan, Kevin B., Lawson, John T., Patterson, Christopher C., Passmore, A. Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 01.10.2002; American Heart Association, Inc
• Subjects: Aged; Alleles; Alzheimer Disease - blood; Alzheimer Disease - epidemiology; Apolipoproteins E - genetics; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Comorbidity; Dementia, Vascular - blood; Dementia, Vascular - epidemiology; Female; Gene Frequency; Genotype; Homocysteine - blood; Humans; Hyperhomocysteinemia - blood; Hyperhomocysteinemia - epidemiology; Hyperhomocysteinemia - genetics; Male; Medical sciences; Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2); Neurology; Northern Ireland - epidemiology; Nutritional Status; Odds Ratio; Oxidoreductases Acting on CH-NH Group Donors - genetics; Reference Values; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Statistical Distributions; Stroke - blood; Stroke - epidemiology; Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system; Northern Ireland; Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (NADPH); homocyst(e)ine; Alzheimer disease; Cardiovascular disease; Blood plasma; Vascular disease; genetics; Homocystein; Apolipoprotein E; Degenerative disease; Fast; Cerebrovascular disease; Human; Nervous system diseases; Stroke; Thiol; Vascular dementia; Enzyme; Genotype; Cerebral disorder; Sulfur containing aminoacid; Allele; Central nervous system disease; Risk factor; dementia; Oxidoreductases; cerebrovascular disorders; Elderly; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0039-2499; 1524-4628; 1524-4628
• DOI: 10.1161/01.STR.0000032550.90046.38

Background and Purpose— Elevated plasma homocysteine level has been associated with increased risk for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Variation in the levels of this amino acid has been shown to be due to nutritional status and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genotype. Methods— Under a case-control design we compared fasting levels of homocysteine and MTHFR genotypes in groups of subjects consisting of stroke, vascular dementia (VaD), and Alzheimer disease patients and normal controls from Northern Ireland. Results— A significant increase in plasma homocysteine was observed in all 3 disease groups compared with controls. This remained significant after allowance for confounding factors (age, sex, hypertension, cholesterol, smoking, creatinine, and nutritional measures). MTHFR genotype was not found to influence homocysteine levels, although the T allele was found to increase risk for VaD and perhaps dementia after stroke. Conclusions— We report that moderately high plasma levels of homocysteine are associated with stroke, VaD, and Alzheimer disease. This is not due to vascular risk factors, nutritional status, or MTHFR genotype.