• Olivia R Henry, Hamed Benghuzzi, Herman A Taylor, Michelle Tucci, Kenneth Butler, and Lynne Jones.
• Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, USA. ohenry@umc.edu
• Am. J. Med. Sci. 2012 Aug 1; 344 (2): 110115110-5.

IntroductionTo examine factors potentially contributing to premature cardiovascular disease mortality in African Americans (40% versus 20% all other populations), plasma homocysteine, serum vitamin B12 and folate levels were examined for African American participants in the Jackson Heart Study.MethodsOf 5192 African American Jackson Heart Study participants (21-94 years), 5064 (mean age, 55 ± 13 years; 63% female) had homocysteine levels measured via fasting blood samples, with further assessments of participants' vitamin B12 (n = 1790) and folate (n = 1788) levels. Regression analyses were used to examine age, gender, vitamin B12 and folate with homocysteine levels.ResultsHomocysteine levels, a purported surrogate risk factor for cardiovascular disease, increased with age, were inversely proportional to folate and vitamin B12 levels (P < 0.001) and were higher for men of all ages.ConclusionsThe results show that, as with other populations, age, gender, vitamin B12 and folate may predict homocysteine levels for African Americans. Diet may be an important predictive factor as well, given the relationships that were observed between plasma homocysteine and serum B vitamin levels.

22 keywords...

hide…