Hyperhomocysteinemia as a risk factor for ischemic stroke: an Indian scenario.
BACKGROUND
Hyperhomocysteinemia has been proposed as an important risk factor for ischemic stroke worldwide, but data available from the Indian subcontinent is scarce.


OBJECTIVE
To study homocysteine levels in patients with ischemic stroke and compare it with age- and sex-matched controls.


METHODS
Case-control prospective study.


METHODS
Fifty-seven patients with ischemic stroke and 30 controls were recruited for the study. They were subdivided into two subgroups (< 40 years and> 40 years of age) and plasma fasting total homocysteine (tHcy) levels were measured.


METHODS
Student's 't' test and chi-square test.


RESULTS
The tHcy were significantly high in patients with stroke, compared to controls (9.91 +/- 2.25 vs 8.00 +/- 2.74 micromol/l; P vs 8.45 +/- 2.72 micromol/l; P = 0.01) and female patients compared to controls (9.08 +/- 1.81 vs 6.79 +/- 2.60 micromol/l; P = 0.04). The tHcy levels were significantly high in patients with hypertension compared to normotensive patients (10.96 vs 9.49 micromol/l; P = 0.01) and smokers compared to nonsmokers (11.17 vs 9.33 micromol/l; P = 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Hyperhomo-cysteinemia emerged as an important independent risk factor for ischemic stroke. A strong positive correlation was also observed between hypertension, smoking, and high-tHcy levels in the present study.
Modi
M
M
Department of Neurology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Prabhakar
S
S
Majumdar
S
S
Khullar
M
M
Lal
V
V
Das
C P
CP
D000328:Adult; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020138:Hyperhomocysteinemia / Q000150:complications*; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology*