title: Association of serum homocysteine levels with the severity and calcification of coronary atherosclerotic plaques detected by coronary CT angiography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In this study, we aim to evaluate the association of risk factors including homocysteine (Hcy) with the severity and burden of coronary atherosclerotic plaques detected by computed tomography angiography (CTA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Six hundred fifty-nine subjects who underwent CTA for the assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD) were studied. All the subjects enrolled had no clinical cardiovascular disease symptoms. Logistic regression showed apart from age, hypertension, smoking, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and total bilirubin, Hcy was an independently risk factor of the severity of coronary disease. And Hcy was also found an independent predictor for the presence of calcified plaque. When the participants were divided into 4 groups according to serum Hcy quartiles (Q1-Q4 groups), both the percentage of patients with >50% stenosis and the percentage of patients with calcified plaque were higher in Q4 compared to other groups. The OR of Hcy (>15 µmol/L) for >50% stenosis was 2.212 (95% CI=1.119 to 4.375, P=0.022) and the OR for Hcy (>15 µmol/L) for calcification was 1.668 (95% CI=1.030 to 2.699, P=0.037) respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study shows Hcy is independently associated with both the severity and calcified plaque detected by CTA. Hcy may provide additional information about CAD in the subjects without clinical symptoms.
authors: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China - tianyp61@gmail.com.
authors: Q
authors: Q
authors: Sun
authors: X
authors: X
authors: Jia
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Gao
authors: W
authors: W
authors: Mou
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Tong
authors: X
authors: X
authors: Wen
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Tian
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002533:Cerebral Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography; D016017:Odds Ratio; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D061205:Vascular Calcification / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D006710:Homocysteine