title: Plasma total homocysteine concentration and the risk of acute coronary events: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Results from prospective studies concerning the association between plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) concentration and coronary heart disease (CHD) are conflicting. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that plasma tHcy is associated with an increased risk of acute coronary events in middle-aged men.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated this association in a prospective nested case-control study among Eastern Finnish men aged 42-60 years. Plasma tHcy measurements were carried out for 163 men who had an acute coronary event during an average 8 years and 11 months follow-up of the whole cohort and for 163 control subjects. Both the cases and the controls were from a cohort of 2005 men who had no clinical CHD at the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease (KIHD) baseline.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Men in the highest plasma tHcy concentration quarter had no increase in the risk of coronary events compared with men with lower tHcy concentrations (odds ratio = 0.88, 95% confidence interval 0.44-1.76). Average follow-up time before the first coronary event was 4.9 years (SD 3.2) in men in the highest plasma tHcy quarter and 5.5 years (SD 3.1) in men in the three lowest quarters (P = 0.368).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that plasma tHcy is not associated with an increased risk of coronary events in the middle-aged male population in eastern Finland.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Public Health, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Voutilainen
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Lakka
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hämelahti
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lehtimäki
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Poulsen
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Salonen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D006710:Homocysteine