Methods for homocysteine analysis and biological relevance of the results.
It is now widely accepted that increased total plasma homocysteine (tHcy) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Hyperhomocysteinemia can be caused by impaired enzyme function as a result of genetic mutation or vitamin B (B(2), B(6), B(9), B(12)) deficiency. A lot of methods are now available for tHcy determination. High-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection are at present the most widely used methods but immunoassays, easier to use, begin to supplant in-house laboratory methods. In order to help with the choice of a main relevant homocysteine analytical method, the characteristics, performances and limits of the main current methods are reviewed. One major drawback among all these available methods is the transferability which is not clearly established to date. The impact of both inter-method and inter-laboratory variations on the interpretation of the tHcy results are discussed.
Ducros
Véronique
V
Département de Biologie Intégrée, CHU Grenoble, BP 217, 38043 Grenoble, France. vducros@chu-grenoble.fr
Demuth
Karine
K
Sauvant
Marie-Pierre
MP
Quillard
Muriel
M
Caussé
Elisabeth
E
Candito
Mirande
M
Read
Marie-Hélène
MH
Drai
Jocelyne
J
Garcia
Isabelle
I
Gerhardt
Marie-Françoise
MF
D002845:Chromatography / Q000379:methods; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D013048:Specimen Handling
D006710:Homocysteine