Hyperhomocysteinaemia among adolescent girls and young women

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Moderately elevated plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) is an independent risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes and cardiovascular disease in women. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinaemia and its association with serum folate and vitamin Bi2 concentrations, BMI and waist circumference (indicators of general nutritional status and cardiovascular risk factors) among adolescent girls and young women. DESIGN, SETTING AND METHODS: A sample of 552 adolescent girls aged 15-18.9 years (n=277) and young women aged 19-30 years (n=275) from Colombo municipality were randomly selected for a study conducted on low folate status and anaemia. A sub-sample with tHcy data was selected for the present study (adolescent girls: n=123; young women: n=136). Serum folate and vitamin B,2 were measured. Anthropometric data were obtained and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. RESULTS: Hyperhomocysteinaemia (tHcy>15 umol/L) was observed among 18.9% of subjects (adolescent girls: 19.5% and young women: 18.4%). Though a high prevalence was noted (43.0%) for low folate status (serum folate <3 ng/ml), none of the subjects studied bad serum vitamin B12 <150 pg/ml. Inverse correlations were noted between tHcy and serum folate (r=-0.151, P=0.018) and vitamin B12 ,r=-0.202, P=0.004) concentrations. Interestingly, positive correlations were noted among tHcy and BMI (r=0.168, P=0.007) and waist circumference (r=0.145, P=0.019). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that hyperhomocysteinaemia could be partly attributable to low folate and vitamin B12 status. The associations noted between tHcy and BMI and waist circumference warrants further investigations in relation to food intake and disease outcomes in this population. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Financial support: IAEA, Vienna