Homocysteine is not associated with arterial thickness and stiffness in healthy middle-aged French volunteers

Background: To study the association between the total plasma homocysteine (tHcy) concentration and the carotid artery intima-medial wall thickness (IMT), pulse wave velocity (PWV) and the presence of arterial plaques in a French population. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of data from 556 male and 559 female middle-aged participants (mean (SD) age 59.6 +/- 4.7 years) provided by an ongoing intervention trial. Results: Mean geometric tHcy concentration was higher for men than for women (10.6 vs. 8.5 mu mol/L, p < 0.001) and was associated in the expected direction with known determinants. The mean IMT was 0.71 +/- 0.1 min for men and 0.69 +/- 0.1 mm for women (p < 0.001), the mean PWV was, respectively, 12.0 +/- 2.8 and 10.9 +/- 2.2 m/sec (p < 0.001), and the percentages of subjects with plaques were, respectively, 40.8% and 22.7% (p < 0.001). In men only, the age-adjusted mean IMT and PWV increased with an increasing tHcy concentration: the IMT was 0.71 min in the first tHcy-quartile and 0.73 min in the fourth tHcy-quartile (p for linear trend-0.03), the PWV values were, respectively, 11.6 and 12.4 m/sec (p for linear trend=0.01). These associations disappeared after adjustment for conventional cardiovascular disease risk factors. Conclusion: In this population, the tHcy concentration was not associated with measures of arterial thickness and stiffness. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.