RT Journal
A1 Bostom AG, Silbershatz H, Rosenberg IH, et al
T1 NOnfasting plasma total homocysteine levels and all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality in elderly framingham men and women
JF Archives of Internal Medicine
JO Archives of Internal Medicine
YR 1999
FD May 24
VO 159
IS 10
SP 1077
OP 1080
DO 10.1001/archinte.159.10.1077
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.159.10.1077
AB Background 
    Elevated fasting total homocysteine (tHcy) levels were recently shown to confer an independent risk for all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality among selected Norwegian patients with confirmed coronary heart disease. We examined whether elevated fasting plasma tHcy levels were predictive of all-cause and CVD mortality in a large, population-based sample of elderly US women and men.Methods 
    Nonfasting plasma tHcy levels were determined in 1933 elderly participants (mean age, 70 ± 7 years; 58.9% women) from the original Framingham Study cohort, examined between 1979 and 1982, with follow-up through 1992. Unadjusted and adjusted (ie, for age, sex, diabetes, smoking, systolic blood pressure, total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and creatinine) relative risk estimates (with 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) for total and CVD mortality were generated by proportional hazards modeling, with tHcy levels (quartiles) as the independent variable.Results 
    There were 653 total deaths and 244 CVD deaths during a median follow-up of 10.0 years. Proportional hazards modeling revealed that tHcy levels of 14.26 µmol/L or greater (the upper quartile), vs less than 14.26 µmol/L (the lower three quartiles), were associated with relative risk estimates of 2.18 (95% CI, 1.86-2.56) and 2.17 (95% CI, 1.68-2.82) for all-cause and CVD mortality, respectively. The relative risk estimates after adjustment for age, sex, systolic blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, and total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels attenuated these associations, but they remained significant: 1.54 (95% CI, 1.31-1.82) for all-cause mortality; 1.52 (95% CI, 1.16-1.98) for CVD mortality.Conclusion 
    Elevated nonfasting plasma tHcy levels are independently associated with increased rates of all-cause and CVD mortality in the elderly.