Total homocysteine is not a determinant of arterial pulse wave velocity in young healthy adults.
OBJECTIVE
Hyperhomocysteinaemia has been associated with reduced pulse wave velocity (PWV) in patients with end-stage renal disease and in those with hypertension. The aim of this study was to examine the association between total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations, the biochemical and genetic determinants of tHcy and PWV in healthy young adults.


RESULTS
A total of 489 subjects aged 20-25 years participated. A fasting blood sample was taken and PWV measured using a non-invasive optical method. tHcy did not correlate with PWV, whether assessed at the aorto-iliac segment (P = 0.18), the aorto-radial segment (P = 0.39) or the aorto-dorsalis-pedis segment (P = 0.22). When tHcy was classified into normal (<15) and high (> or =15micromol/l), PWV did not differ between the two groups at any segment. PWV did not differ by MTHFR C677T or NOS3 G894T genotype, even when smoking and folate sub-groups were considered. Considering aortic PWV as a dependent variable, stepwise regression analysis showed that the only parameter entering the model for all segments was systolic blood pressure (aorto-iliac, P < 0.001; aorto-radial, P = 0.01; aorto-dorsalis-pedis, P = 0.001). Age, sex, COL1A1 genotype and triglycerides entered the model significantly for two of three segments.


CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that arterial PWV is not associated with tHcy in a healthy young population.
Woodside
J V
JV
School of Medicine, Queen's University, Mulhouse Building, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT126BJ, Northern Ireland, UK. j.woodside@qub.ac.uk
McMahon
R
R
Gallagher
A M
AM
Cran
G W
GW
Boreham
C A
CA
Murray
L J
LJ
Strain
J J
JJ
McNulty
H
H
Robson
P J
PJ
Brown
K S
KS
Whitehead
A S
AS
Savage
M
M
Young
I S
IS
D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000097:blood; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011674:Pulse
D006710:Homocysteine; D005492:Folic Acid