title: Homocysteine and lipoprotein (a) correlation in ischemic stroke patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Homocysteine and Lipoprotein (a) have been recognized as risk factors for coronary heart disease. However, their role in ischemic stroke is still not defined. Therefore the present study was undertaken to evaluate their levels and relationship in patients of ischemic stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted in consecutive patients admitted with a diagnosis of acute ischaemic stroke and age and sex matched healthy controls. Plasma homocysteine and serum l lipoprotein (a) levels were determined in the fasting venous blood samples using ELISA and immunoturbidimetric assay respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  66 patients with ischaemic stroke (30 males, 36 females) of mean age 54.43+/-1.97 years and 72 controls (39 males, 33 females) of mean age 53.86+/-1.88 years were studied. Mean plasma homocysteine levels in the stroke patients and control groups were 28.40+/-2.08 micromol/L and 11.16+/-1.09 micromol/L respectively (p<0.001). Odds ratio for raised homocysteine levels in stroke cases was 15.7. Plasma homocysteine levels showed a positive correlation with smoking (Pearson's correlation coefficient=0.324 and p-value of 0.008), (Odds ratio=5.71). Serum Lipoprotein (a) levels in stroke cases and control group were 57.33+/-4.40 mg/dl and 23.46+/-1.09 mg/dl respectively, (p<0.001), (Odds Ratio=8.62). A positive correlation was also observed between Homocysteine and Lipoprotein (a) levels with Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.75 and p-value<0.001.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Raised homocysteine and serum lipoprotein (a) levels were found to be independently associated with ischemic stroke with a significant positive correlation between the two parameters. Elevated homocysteine levels may modulate the toxicity of lipoprotein (a) in ischemic stroke.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Associated Hospitals, New Delhi, India. dhamijark@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Rajinder K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Dhamija
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gaba
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaintura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bhattacharjee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000097:blood*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D017270:Lipoprotein(a) / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012907:Smoking; D020521:Stroke / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017270:Lipoprotein(a); D006710:Homocysteine; D002784:Cholesterol