Does serum homocysteine level have a role in the early pregnancy loss?

Objective: To investigate the relationship between high maternal homocysteine levels and early pregnancy losses. Methods: Seventy patients diagnosed with miscarriage (missed, incomplete and threatened) between 5 and 12 weeks of gestation and 54 pregnant women without any problem during their follow-up were compared in terms of homocysteine levels during pregnancy. Results: The highest mean serum homocysteine level among the miscarriage groups was in the threatened miscarriage group (8.9±3.9 nmol/l), followed by 7.8±2.5 and 8.7±4.2 nmol/l in the missed and incomplete miscarriage groups, respectively. The mean serum homocysteine level in the control group was 4.8±0.9 nmol/l. The homocysteine levels of the control group were significantly lower than all three miscarriage groups (p<0.01). On the other hand, there was no significant difference between the homocysteine levels of the miscarriage groups (p>0.05). When compared to the control group, the most significant difference among the serum homocysteine levels was found in the missed miscarriage (p<0.01). Conclusion: High homocysteine levels detected during early weeks of gestation can be a warning about the miscarriage risk, and also may provide insight about the obstetric complications that may develop in the further weeks of gestation such as preeclampsia, ablatio placentae and intrauterine growth restriction.