title: Plasma homocysteine levels in dry eye patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare plasma homocysteine levels between patients with dry eye disease and normal control subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Plasma homocysteine (enzyme immunoassay), vitamin B12, and folate levels were determined in 38 patients with dry eye and in 38 controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Characteristics of the dry eye and control groups were similar. The mean plasma homocysteine level was 16.38 ± 6.98 μmol/L in the dry eye group and 14.39 ± 5.11 μmol/L in the control group (P = 0.10, t test). Hyperhomocysteinemia was present in the 43.9% of the dry eye patients and 33.3% of the controls (P = 0.43, χ test). There were no statistical differences between dry eye and control groups regarding plasma vitamin B12 and folate levels (P = 0.72 and P = 0.69, respectively, t test).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Plasma homocysteine levels in dry eye patients may be inadequate to give homocysteine a role in pathogenesis. However, in ocular diseases like glaucoma, plasma homocysteine levels are significantly higher, and associated dry eye disease may cause an additional increase in plasma homocysteine levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University Medical School, Rize, Turkey. bsekeryapan@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Berrak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sekeryapan
authors.forename: Veysi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Oner
authors.forename: Aynur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kirbas
authors.forename: Kemal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Turkyilmaz
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Durmus
mesh_terms: D015352:Dry Eye Syndromes / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000097:blood; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D020138:Hyperhomocysteinemia / Q000097:blood; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014805:Vitamin B 12 / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D006710:Homocysteine; D005492:Folic Acid; D014805:Vitamin B 12