title: Association of red blood cell 5-methyltetrahydrofolate and severity of coronary artery disease: a cross-sectional study from Shiraz, southern Iran.
abstract: In this study we tested the hypothesis that red blood cell 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, a long-term marker of the folate status, is associated with the severity of coronary artery disease and whether this association is independent of homocysteine, vitamin B12, plasma 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, 5,10-methyltetrahyrofolate reductase C677T genotype, and other cardiovascular risk factors. Two hundred and fifty-one angiographically documented patients aged <70 years with single, double, or triple coronary artery disease were investigated. Red blood cell 5-methyltetrahydrofolate concentrations were significantly decreased with the increasing number of diseased vessels (analysis of variance, P < 0.001). Red blood cell 5-methyltetrahydrofolate was also inversely and significantly correlated with the number of diseased vessels (r = -0.36, P < 0.001). Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that red cell 5-methyltetrahydrofolate was a strong predictor of number of diseased vessels independent of plasma total homocysteine, 5,10-methyltetrahyrofolate reductase C677T genotype, and all other coronary artery risk factors (beta = -0.002, P < 0.001, r2 = 0.128). The results of this study suggest that low red blood cell 5-methyltetrahydrofolate is associated with the severity of coronary artery disease independent from plasma homocysteine and other cardiovascular risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 1167, Shiraz 71345, Iran.
authors.forename: Jamal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Golbahar
authors.forename: Mohamad Amin
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Aminzadeh
authors.forename: Mohamad Bager
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Sharifkazemi
authors.forename: Golam Reza
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Rezaian
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000097:blood*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013763:Tetrahydrofolates / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D013763:Tetrahydrofolates; C005984:5-methyltetrahydrofolate