Abstract

Despite the growing evidence that elevated total homocysteine (tHcy) in plasma is a cardiovascular risk factor, the mechanism underlying the vascular injury is still unknown. Studies are difficult due to the fact that little is known about the formation of different homocysteine species in vivo. In the present study we have investigated the different fractions of tHcy in 21 patients with acute coronary syndromes and elevated concentration of plasma tHcy. A subgroup of the patients (n=16) was investigated before and after a 3 months study period with or without vitamin supplementation (folic acid 5 mg, pyridoxine 40 mg and cyanocobalamin 1 mg once daily). A major finding is that these patients had a lowered ratio (0.95%) between the concentration of reduced homocysteine (HcyH) and tHcy compared to controls (1.38%). A low ratio HcyH/tHcy in plasma in combination with elevated plasma tHcy concentrations might reflect increased oxidative activity or decreased reducing capacity in plasma from the patients. Another main finding in the present study is that, although vitamin supplementation of these patients normalized plasma tHcy, the ratio between HcyH and tHcy did not normalize. Since substantial evidence indicates that progression of arteriosclerosis is related to enhanced oxidant activity, the premature vascular disease associated with increased plasma tHcy concentration might be due to increased oxidative activity and the elevated plasma tHcy concentration may only reflect the increased oxidative stress.