Background: Recent studies have suggested that high level of homocysteine is an important and prevalent risk factor for coronary, cerebral and peripheral arterial disease. Objective: In light of the lack of information on hyperhomocysteinemia in peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in Brazil and the peculiarities of its population, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the frequency of hyperhomocysteinemia in a sample of the Brazilian population by means of a clinical trial involving individuals with and without PAD being treated at a public health care facility. Methods: A case-controlled clinical trial was conducted with 40 individuals with a PAD diagnosis confirmed by Doppler ultrasound (PAD group) compared with 20 volunteer individuals without PAD (control group). Results: The predominant PAD was chronic limb ischemia (75%). Median fasting plasma levels of homocysteine were significantly higher in the PAD group than in the control group (16.7 vs. 12.9 μmol/L, p = 0.001), both in men (18.9 vs. 14.0 μmol/L, p = 0.005) and women (13.9 vs. 11.2 μmol/L, p = 0.025). As to the proportion of individuals with hyperhomocysteinemia, a tendency toward a higher frequency was observed in the PAD group (60%) in relation to the control group (30%) (p = 0.054). Individuals aged less than 60 years had significantly high median values of homocysteine in the PAD group (p = 0.041). Conclusions: Hyperhomocysteinemia was a prevalent and important risk factor in individuals with PAD treated at a public health care facility in Brazil.
Homocysteine; hyperhomocysteinemia; peripheral vascular diseases
