A Pilot Study on Total Plasma Homocysteine Level of Patients with Cerebral Infarction

J Korean Neurol Assoc > Volume 17(1); 1999 > Article

Journal of the Korean Neurological Association 1999;17(1): 26-31.

뇌경색 환자의 혈중 호모시스틴치 - 예비 연구 -

정두신, 송인욱. 조상걸. 성기범. 박형국. 신현길,장성근

순천향대학교 의과대학 신경과학교실

A Pilot Study on Total Plasma Homocysteine Level of Patients with Cerebral Infarction

Du-Shin Jeong, In-Uk Song, Sang-Gull Cho, Gi-Bum Sung, Hyung-Kook Park, Hyun-kil Shin

Department of Neurology, Soonchunhyang University Hospital #657 Hannam-Dong, Yongsan-Ku, Seoul, 140-743, Korea

Abstract

Background : Hyperhomocysteinemia has been known to be associated with cerebrovascular disease. It is toxic to vascular endothelial cell and promotes arteriosclerotic detachment. There was no study of the homocysteine level in ischemic stroke patients in Korea except case report. Therefore we measured total plasma homocysteine level in ischemic stroke patients and evaluated association with other stroke risk factors. Methods : We measured total plasma homocysteine level in 44 patients with ischemic stroke and 16 age-matched normal controls, and analyzed its relationship to other stroke risk factors. Total plasma homocysteine level was determined by using a radioenzymatic method. Results : Total plasma homocysteine level was 12.12 5.11 μmol/L in patients and 9.40 1.93 μmol/L in controls. It was 13.03 5.78 μmol/L in lacunar infarction and 9.96 1.57 μmol/L in territory infarction. The total plasma homocysteine level of the patients with hypertension, DM, hyperlipidemia, heart disease, smoking, alcohol, previous stroke, carotid bruit was not different statistically from those without them. Conclusions : Total plasma homocysteine level was significantly higher in the ischemic stroke patients than that of controls. Lacunar infarction showed significantly higher level of total plasma homocysteine compared to territory infarction. Key Words : Homocysteine, Ischemic stroke, Risk factor.