Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Oct;8(10):CC13-5.
doi: 10.7860/JCDR/2014/9607.4995. Epub 2014 Oct 20.

Prevalence of Elevated Serum Homocysteine and Serum Lipoprotein 'a' in Women

Alka N Sontakke  1 , Mona A Tilak  2 , Vaishali V Dhat  3 , Umesh M More  4 , Sarita A Shinde  5 , Pradnya Phalak  5 , Anita D Deshmukh  5
Affiliations

Prevalence of Elevated Serum Homocysteine and Serum Lipoprotein 'a' in Women

Alka N Sontakke et al. J Clin Diagn Res. 2014 Oct.

Abstract

Background: Recent studies indicate that the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in women is no less than that in men and menopausal women are equally vulnerable as men. Studies of recent risk factors like hyperhomocysteinemia and elevation in lipoprotein (a) reveal controversial role of the same. This study hence is an attempt to study the prevalence of these factors in women and their correlation with lipid profile.

Materials and methods: Two hundred women were enrolled in the study- 100 premenopausal women (21-45y) and 100 menopausal (50-55y). All the subjects were screened for homocysteine by ELISA and lipoprotein (a) and lipid profile by automation.

Results: Prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia was 52% and 62% in premenopausal and menopausal women respectively. A significant positive correlation was seen for total cholesterol and triacylglycerol with serum Homocysteine in premenopausal women while pronounced positive correlation for serum cholesterol with serum Homocysteine in menopausal women. The prevalence of elevated lipoprotein (a) was 42% and 45% in premenopausal and menopausal women respectively. There was no correlation between lipoprotein (a) and lipid profile in both groups.

Conclusion: The findings of the study conclude that premenopausal and menopausal women constitute a subpopulation where recent risk factors like hyperhomocysteinemia and elevated lipoprotein(a) could be assessed along with lipid profile as screening tests to identify the risk of CAD. This would help in proper counselling of the concerned women and minimize the risk.

Keywords: Cardiovascular risk factors; Homocysteine; Lipoprotein (A); Menopausal women; Premenopausal women.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. CJ Murray, AD Lopez. Mortality by cause of eight regions of the world: Global Burden Of Disease Study. Lancet. 1997;349:1269–76. - PubMed
    1. E Jeanine, Lennep Roeters van, Westerveld H Tineke, Erkelens D Willem, E Ernst, Wall van der. Risk factors for coronary heart disease: Implications of gender. Cardiovascular Research. 2002;53:538–49. - PubMed
    1. P Jousilahti, E Vartiainen, J Tuomilehto, P Puska. Sex, age, cardiovascular risk factors and coronary heart disease: a prospective follow up study of 14786 middle aged men and women in Finland. Circulation. 1999;99:1165–72. - PubMed
    1. E Barrest Connor, GV Giardina E, AK Gitt. Women and heart disease-The role of diabetes and hyperglycemia. Arch Intern Med. 2004;164:934–42. - PubMed
    1. DJ Gordon, JL Probstfield, RJ Garrison. High density lipoprotein cholesterol and cardiovascular disease- four prospective American studies. Circulation. 1989;79:8–15. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources