title: The effect of homocysteine-lowering therapy with folic acid on flow-mediated vasodilation in patients with coronary artery disease: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  High level of homocysteine induces injury of endothelial cells and predicts adverse cardiovascular events. The objective was to assess the effect of homocysteine-lowering therapy with folic acid on flow-mediated vasodilation in patients with coronary artery disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials identified from PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library. Eight studies were included. Homocysteine-lowering therapy with folic acid in patients with coronary artery disease significantly improve FMD as compared with placebo using random-effect model (SMD = 1.65 with 95% CI 1.12-2.17, p < 0.001). Subgroup analysis of subjects revealed that lipid-lowering therapy, study duration, and Delphi criteria had no effects on FMD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our meta-analysis demonstrated that folic acid supplementation can significantly improve endothelial dysfunction as assessed by FMD in the brachial artery in patients with coronary heart disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, FuWai Hospital and Cardiovascular Institute, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, 167 Beilishi Road, Beijing 100037, China.
authors.forename: Yaxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, FuWai Hospital and Cardiovascular Institute, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, 167 Beilishi Road, Beijing 100037, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Cardiology, General Hospital of Beijing Armed Police Corps Beijing 100027, China.
authors.forename: Huijun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Cardiology, General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100853, China. Electronic address: gaolinggen@163.com.
authors.forename: Linggen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, FuWai Hospital and Cardiovascular Institute, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, 167 Beilishi Road, Beijing 100037, China. Electronic address: fuwailab15@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Xianliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D001916:Brachial Artery / Q000473:pathology; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D014664:Vasodilation
chemical_list: D006710:Homocysteine; D005492:Folic Acid
keywords: Flow-mediated vasodilation; Folic acid; Homocysteine