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Association of homocysteine with carotid atherosclerosis in hypertension

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 37, pages 227–234 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Information on the association between homocysteine (HCY) levels and carotid atherosclerosis (CAS) in hypertension (HTN) is limited. A cross-sectional study was performed to examine the relationship of plasma HCY concentration with CAS in 1700 hypertensives (61.62 ± 12.16 year). The prevalence of CAS and carotid intima–media thickness (CIMT) progressively increased across quartiles of HCY levels (P < 0.001). Correlation analysis showed significantly positive correlation between HCY and CAS (r = 0.261, P < 0.001). In a logistic regression, HCY independently predicted the presence of CAS (OR 1.284, 95% CI 1.163–1.418). Further investigation revealed that interaction effect of HCY was substantial for gender (P for interaction 0.023), age (P for interaction <0.001) and smoking (P for interaction 0.025) on CAS. Thus, in hypertensives, those of male, aged ≥55 year and current smokers, in which HCY ≥ 13.49 μmol/L were more likely to suffer CAS, suggesting a role of HCY in the development and progression of CAS in these patients, and HCY determination should be recommended to better stratify the cardiovascular risk.

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Fig. 1: Flow chart of study selection.
Fig. 2: Percentage of CIMT grade stratified by quartile of HCY in HTN.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the participants and participating physicians from The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, China.

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant Number: 82170355].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geriatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China

    Ai Chen, Weibin Wu, Jin Gong, Ying Han, Guoyan Xu & Liangdi Xie

  2. Fujian Hypertension Research Institute, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China

    Ai Chen, Weibin Wu, Jin Gong, Ying Han, Guoyan Xu & Liangdi Xie

  3. Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Fujian Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China

    Ai Chen, Weibin Wu, Jin Gong, Ying Han, Guoyan Xu & Liangdi Xie

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Ai Chen and Liangdi Xie participated in the conception and design of this work. Ai Chen and Weibin Wu collected the clinical data. Ai Chen and Jin Gong contributed to the data analysis and interpretation. Guoyan Xu and Ying Han provided with the study materials and patients. Liangdi Xie revised and provided critical comments. All authors approved the manuscript

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Correspondence to Liangdi Xie.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Our study was in accordance with the ethical standards formulated in the Helsinki Declaration, and the protocol was approved by Branch for Medical Research and Clinical Technology Application, Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University (IEC-FOM-013-2.0). Informed consent was obtained from all patients involved.

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Chen, A., Wu, W., Gong, J. et al. Association of homocysteine with carotid atherosclerosis in hypertension. J Hum Hypertens 37, 227–234 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-022-00665-1

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