Open AccessReference interval and determinants of the serum homocysteine level in a Korean population
Author(s) -
Moon HeeWon,
Whang Dong Hee,
Ko Young Jin,
Joo Shin Young,
Yun YeoMin,
Hur Mina,
Kim Jin Q
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of clinical laboratory analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1098-2825
pISSN - 0887-8013
DOI - 10.1002/jcla.20476
Subject(s) - hyperhomocysteinemia , homocysteine , medicine , confidence interval , population , gastroenterology , environmental health
In this study, we estimated the reference intervals of the serum homocysteine (Hcy) level using two automated immunoassays, and we demonstrated the effects of various factors on the Hcy level in a Korean population. We calculated the gender‐ and assay‐specific reference intervals using the data from 809 healthy Koreans, and we assessed the effects of physiologic and lifestyle factors on the Hcy level. The upper limit was higher in males (19.21 and 19.76 μmol/l) than that in females (14.99 μmol/l and 15.16 μmol/l, AxSym and ADVIA centaur, respectively); the upper limits were comparable between the two assays. Smokers, vitamin nonusers, and persons without regular exercise showed a lower folate level and a higher Hcy level. The risk of hyperhomocysteinemia was significantly associated with the male gender (adjusted OR: 5.705, P ‐value: 0.008) and with the low folate level group (adjusted OR: 10.412, P ‐value: 0.002) on the multivariate analysis. The Hcy level was significantly different according to various factors, especially in the gender and folate level. The reference interval should be determined for each ethnic population and for each assay. The appropriate cutoff for assessing the risk for cardiovascular disease or stroke should also be validated in each population. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 25:317–323, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.