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(Stroke. 2006;37:2840.)
© 2006 American Heart Association, Inc.

Research Reports

Homocysteine and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in a German Population

Lack of Clinical Relevance

Michael Linnebank, MD; Susanna Moskau, MD; Susan Farmand; Klaus Fliessbach, MD; Heike Kölsch, PhD; Monika Bös, MD; Christoph Grothe, MD; Dietmar Becker, MD; Ursula Harbrecht, MD; Christoph Pohl, MD; Ullrich Wüllner, MD, PhD Thomas Klockgether, MD

From the Departments of Neurology (M.L., S.M., S.F., M.B., C.G., D.B., C.P., U.W., T.K.), Epileptology (K.F.), Psychiatry (H.K.), and Transfusion Medicine (U.H.), University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.

Correspondence to Dr Michael Linnebank, University Hospital Bonn, Department of Neurology, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany. E-mail Michael.Linnebank{at}ukb.uni-bonn.de

Background and Purpose— Common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA IMT) is a predictor of stroke. This study aimed to analyze whether homocysteine (Hcys) metabolism influences CCA IMT.

Methods— We analyzed the association of personal, clinical, and biochemical data (multivariate analysis) and of 9 polymorphisms involved in Hcys metabolism (ANOVA) with CCA IMT in 714 individuals of 187 families.

Results— CCA IMT was significantly predicted by age, sex, creatinine levels, lipoprotein(a) levels, pack-years of smoking, the presence of hypertension, and the presence of diabetes mellitus but not by Hcys levels. Homozygosity for the T allele of the polymorphism methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase c.677C>T was significantly associated with higher Hcys levels but not with a higher CCA IMT.

Conclusions— These data do not support the thesis that elevated Hcys levels are causally involved in cerebrovascular disease.

Key Words: carotid intima-media thickness • carotid ultrasound • genetics • homocysteinemia • stroke

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