Comparison of serum homocysteine levels in patients with coronary artery disease with and without diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Background: Homocysteine is an amino acid that is produced during the metabolism of the methionine cycle. In previous studies, a causal role of homocysteine in coronary artery disease (CAD) has been investigated; however, the homocysteine level in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with CAD has not been compared. This study aimed to investigate this issue. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 patients with CAD in Kashan Shahid Beheshti Hospital during 2014-2015. Coronary artery disease was confirmed by angiography. Homocysteine levels, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, hemoglobin A1C and mean blood pressure were measured. Data were analyzed using t-test with SPSS version 16. Results: In this study, one hundred and eight of patients (54) were men. The mean concentrations of hemoglobin A1C in diabetic and non-diabetic patients were 6.69±1.44 and 5.74±0.92, respectively (P<0.001). Moreover, the mean homocysteine serum levels in diabetic and non-diabetic patients were 19.89±6.86 μmol/L and 24.35±9.93 μmol/L, respectively (P<0.001). Conclusion: Results of the current study showed that the homocysteine serum level in patients with CAD was higher than the normal level and in patients without diabetes was significantly higher than patients with diabetes. Also, in diabetic patients with CAD, the serum creatinine and urine protein levels were higher than those in non-diabetics patients