title: Plasma homocysteine levels are independently associated with alterations of large artery stiffness in men but not in women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the associations of the plasma homocysteine levels with the alterations in arterial stiffness in a community-based cohort. The gender differences in these associations were examined.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated the relationship between plasma homocysteine levels to three measures of vascular function [carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV), carotid-ankle PWV (CA-PWV) and heart rate corrected augmentation index (AI)] in 1680 participants (mean age: 61.5 years; 709 men, 971 women) from communities of Beijing, China.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In univariate analysis, plasma homocysteine levels was positively related to the CF-PWV (r = 0.211, P < 0.0001) and CA-PWV (r = 0.148, P < 0.0001), whereas inversely associated with AI (r = -0.052, P = 0.016). In multiple linear regression models adjusting for covariants, plasma homocysteine remained positively related to the CF-PWV (standardized β = 0.065, P = 0.007) in total cases. When the groups of men and women were examined separately, plasma homocysteine remained positively associated with the CF-PWV (standardized β = 0.082, P = 0.023) in men, whereas the relations between homocysteine and any of the arterial stiffness indices were not further present in women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Chinese population, plasma homocysteine levels are independently associated with alterations of large artery stiffness in men but not in women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Cai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Yi
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Kai
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Statistics, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ye
keywords: Arterial stiffness; Gender differences; Homocysteine; Pulse wave velocity