title: Homocysteine is not associated with arterial thickness and stiffness in healthy middle-aged French volunteers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To study the association between the total plasma homocysteine (tHcy) concentration and the carotid artery intima-medial wall thickness (IMT), pulse wave velocity (PWV) and the presence of arterial plaques in a French population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional analysis of data from 556 male and 559 female middle-aged participants (mean (+/-SD) age 59.6+/-4.7 years) provided by an ongoing intervention trial.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean geometric tHcy concentration was higher for men than for women (10.6 vs. 8.5 micromol/L, p<0.001) and was associated in the expected direction with known determinants. The mean IMT was 0.71+/-0.1 mm for men and 0.69+/-0.1 mm for women (p<0.001), the mean PWV was, respectively, 12.0+/-2.8 and 10.9+/-2.2 m/sec (p<0.001), and the percentages of subjects with plaques were, respectively, 40.8% and 22.7% (p<0.001). In men only, the age-adjusted mean IMT and PWV increased with an increasing tHcy concentration: the IMT was 0.71 mm in the first tHcy-quartile and 0.73 mm in the fourth tHcy-quartile (p for linear trend=0.03), the PWV values were, respectively, 11.6 and 12.4 m/sec (p for linear trend=0.01). These associations disappeared after adjustment for conventional cardiovascular disease risk factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this population, the tHcy concentration was not associated with measures of arterial thickness and stiffness.
authors.affiliation: Unilever Food and Health Research Institute, Unilever Research and Development, Vlaardingen, The Netherlands. angelika-de.bree@unilever.com
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Bree
authors.forename: Louise I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Mennen
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zureik
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ducros
authors.forename: Jean-Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Guilland
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Nicolas
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Emery-Fillon
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blacher
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hercberg
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Galan
mesh_terms: D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004548:Elasticity; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011674:Pulse; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017540:Tunica Media / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D006710:Homocysteine