The role of homocysteine as a significant risk factor for white matter lesions in Japanese women with rheumatoid arthritis

• Published in: Metabolism, clinical and experimental clinical and experimental, 2009, Vol.58 (1), p.69-73
• Main Authors: Anan, Futoshi, Masaki, Takayuki, Tatsukawa, Hiroshi, Nagano, Shuji, Oribe, Motohiro, Eshima, Nobuoki, Saikawa, Tetsunori, Yoshimatsu, Hironobu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arthritis, Rheumatoid - blood; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - complications; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Glucose - metabolism; Blood Pressure - physiology; Brain Diseases - blood; Brain Diseases - metabolism; Brain Diseases - pathology; Cholesterol - blood; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diseases of the osteoarticular system; Dyslipidemias - blood; Dyslipidemias - metabolism; Dyslipidemias - pathology; Endocrinology & Metabolism; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Heart Rate - physiology; Homocysteine - metabolism; Humans; Inflammatory joint diseases; Japan; Logistic Models; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Stroke - blood; Stroke - complications; Stroke - metabolism; Triglycerides - blood; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems
• ISSN: 0026-0495; 1532-8600
• DOI: 10.1016/j.metabol.2008.08.008

Abstract The presence of white matter lesions (WML) is an important prognostic factor for the development of stroke. Plasma total homocysteine (tHcy), which increases with diabetes, has been flagged as a novel predictor for cerebrovascular events. We tested the hypothesis that the presence of WML correlates with tHcy in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Based on brain magnetic resonance imaging findings, 65 rheumatoid arthritis patients were divided into 2 groups: WML-positive group (61 ± 6 years, mean ± SD; n = 25) and WML-negative group (60 ± 7 years, n = 40). The level of metabolic parameters was assessed by total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, and homocysteine (tHcy). The duration of rheumatoid arthritis was longer in the WML-positive group than in the WML-negative group ( P < .05). Plasma levels of triglyceride was higher whereas high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was lower in the WML-positive group than in the WML-negative group ( P < .05 and P < .01, respectively). Fasting plasma glucose ( P < .05) and tHcy (