Relationship of plasma homocysteine, polymorphism in its enzymes genes and cerebral infarction in the elderly / 临床神经病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the relationship of plasma homocysteine (Hcy), polymorphism in 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and cystathionine-?-synthase (CBS) genes, and cerebral infarction in the elderly. Methods 61 elderly patients with first-ever acute cerebral infarction and 57 controls were studied. The plasma Hcy levels were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection (HPLC-FD). The polymorphism in MTHFR was determined by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay and subsequent restriction enzyme digestion.CBS was determined by amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS). Results The fast plasma Hcy levels were higher in the patient group compared with those in the control group [(13.07?3.96)?mol/L vs (11.51?3.90)?mol/L, P 0.05). There were no differences in the plasma Hcy levels among the different genotypes. Conclusions The MTHFR, CBS gene mutations cannot lead to hyperhomocysteinemia in the elderly patients with acute cerebral infarction. Hyperhomocysteinemia is associated with the independent risk of cerebral infarction, however, mutations only in MTHFR and CBS cannot be ascertained to be independent risk of cerebral infarction in the elderly.