Homocysteine and acute myocardial infarction

Objective: to evaluate the presence of hyperhomocysteinemia in patients of acute myocardial infarction(ami) and to analyze the relationship between total homocysteine and physical activity and serum cholesterol levels. material and methods methods: a cross sectional study was conducted which included 200 patients of acute myocardial infarction studied in two age groups of 25-45 years and 46-70 years,and an equal number of age and sex matched controls. serum total homocysteine was analyzed by fluorescence polarization immunoassay method on abbott imx,(immunoassay analyzer) and determination of serum cholesterol was done by kit method (elitech diagnostics,spain). results: moderate hyperhomocysteinemia was recorded in younger patients of ami (23.76 ± 2.08 μmol/l and 20.21 ± 4.17 μmol/l respectively in male and female patients). older patients of ami showed intermediate hyperhomocysteinemia in male patients as compared to female patients (44.62 ± 2.04 μmol/l and 29.84 ± 1.86 μmol/l respectively in male and female patients). moderate hyperhomocysteinemia was noted with increasing age in the control subjects of our general population. there was no patient with normal homocysteine level. only three patients had no risk factor under study,two patients presented with both risk factors i.e. physical inactivity and raised cholesterol levels,and the rest of the patients had either of the two risk factors. serum homocysteine showed a strong relationship with cardiovascular risk factors as markedly elevated total homocysteine was recorded in the patients of acute myocardial infarction who were exposed to either one or both of these risk factors as compared to controls. conclusion: hyperhomocysteinemia is a risk factor for coronary artery disease in our population,perhaps through an interplay with physical inactivity and raised serum cholesterol levels.