Plasma total homocysteine and risk of coronary atherosclerosis in Palestine

Other Title(s)

الهوموسيستين الكلي في البلزما و خطورة الصابة بتصلب الشرايين التاجية في فلسطين

Dissertant

Najjar, Usamah Ahmad

Thesis advisor

Khatib, Samir
Batrawi, Muhammad

Comitee Members

Khayri, Lina
Amin, Riyad

University

Birzeit University

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Department

Department Nutrition and Dietetics

University Country

Palestine (West Bank)

Degree

Master

Degree Date

2007

English Abstract

Many researchers have shown that elevated total plasma Homocysteine has a significant association with coronary heart diseases, cardiovascular diseases and other cardiac diseases. In this present case control study, I investigated whether fasting total Homocysteine has a strong association with coronary artery diseases.

Also, correlation between fasting t-Hcy and severity of atherosclerosis was studied.

Furthermore, levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL, and uric acid, were studied as conventional risk factors of atherosclerosis to compare them with total Homocysteine.

Subjects were recruited from men and women, aged 21 to 85 years, who underwent coronary angiography (cardiac catheterization) between March 2004 and August 2004 at Ramallah Hospital catheterization laboratory.

Cases (n = 189) where defined as those with ≥ 50 % occlusion of any coronary artery, while control subjects (n = 103) had < 50 % occlusion in any coronary artery or had no occlusion at all.

In addition a population-based control group free from clinical cardiovascular disease (n = 96) was studied. Cases had 31.2 % higher mean fasting total homocysteine than both control groups (P=0.00).

While between the two control groups the mean total plasma homocysteine is almost the same, and there is no statistical difference between their means (P = 0.147).

The odds ratios (OR) for coronary atherosclerosis and hyperhomocysteinemia was 3.27 (95 % CI, 2.14– 4.99) using Hcy cutoff value 14.7 (Established cutoff value from this study) and before adjusting for age, sex and other confounders.

But after adjusting for age, sex and other confounders OR was 3.12(95 % CI, 1.95–4.99).

Furthermore, increasing fasting total homocysteine was associated with severity of atherosclerosis measured as increasing number of occluded arteries (P = 0.00).

For the other conventional risk factors HDL, cholesterol, and triglycerides were statistically insignificant as risk factors for coronary atherosclerosis and their significance was (P = 0.383, P = 0.077, and P = 0.507 respectively).

While for Uric acid and LDL they were statistically significant (P = 0.011 and P = 0.00 respectively). In conclusion, the main finding in this population group is that plasma total Homocysteine is strongly related to coronary atherosclerosis and to its severity.

These results should encourage further studies of tHcy as a prognostic marker or risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis in Palestine.

Main Subjects

Medicine

Topics

• Diseases
• Palestine

No. of Pages

128

Table of Contents

• APA
• MLA
• AMA

Language

English

Data Type

Arab Theses

Record ID

BIM-303655