Plasma Homocysteine Levels In Acute Ischemic Stroke

Plasma Homocysteine Levels In Acute Ischemic Stroke It is known that the increase in serum homocysteine level is a risk factor for atherosclerotic vascular diseases. However, the serum homocysteine level has not been studied extensively in neither acute nor chronic phases of stroke. This study aims to evaluate the change in the homocysteine levels at successive blood samples taken in acute stroke phase. The average serum homocysteine level of 110 patients collected on the 2nd, 4th, 7th, 10th and 14th days of the disease was compared with the values from 45 age- and sex-matched control cases. Moreover, both groups were also compared for stroke risk factors and other parameters related to homocysteine. In the patient group, the average homocysteine levels were 10.85 mol /L on the 2nd day, 17.51 mol /L on the 4th day, 24.72 mol /L on the 7th day, 27.89 mol /L on the 10th day and 27.44 mol /L on the 14th day. The homocysteine measurement in the control group was carried out only once and the average value was 16.75 mol /L. The patients' average serum homocysteine level was significantly lower than the control group on the 2nd day (p<0.001). On the 4th day, there was no such difference (p=0.736). On the 7th , 10th and 14th days the homocysteine levels of the patient group increased gradually and these values were found to be statistically higher than the control group respectively (p=0.020, p=0.003, p<0.001). The vitamin B12 level and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) point mutation frequency of the patient and control groups were found to be similar. However the average folic acid levels in the patient group was lower. We think that the increase in serum homocysteine level beginning on the 7th day of acute stroke period is a secondary change due to stroke rather than being a risk factor for the stroke. Keywords: Acute stroke , homocysteine, ischemic stroke.