Hyperhomocysteinemia as a risk factor for ischemic stroke: an Indian scenario.

<bold>Background: </bold>Hyperhomocysteinemia has been proposed as an important risk factor for ischemic stroke worldwide, but data available from the Indian subcontinent is scarce.<bold>Aim: </bold>To study homocysteine levels in patients with ischemic stroke and compare it with age- and sex-matched controls.<bold>Settings and Design: </bold>Case-control prospective study.<bold>Materials and Methods: </bold>Fifty-seven patients with ischemic stroke and 30 controls were recruited for the study. They were subdivided into two subgroups (< 40 years and> 40 years of age) and plasma fasting total homocysteine (tHcy) levels were measured.<bold>Statistical Analysis Used: </bold>Student's 't' test and chi-square test.<bold>Results: </bold>The tHcy were significantly high in patients with stroke, compared to controls (9.91 +/- 2.25 vs 8.00 +/- 2.74 micromol/l; P vs 8.45 +/- 2.72 micromol/l; P = 0.01) and female patients compared to controls (9.08 +/- 1.81 vs 6.79 +/- 2.60 micromol/l; P = 0.04). The tHcy levels were significantly high in patients with hypertension compared to normotensive patients (10.96 vs 9.49 micromol/l; P = 0.01) and smokers compared to nonsmokers (11.17 vs 9.33 micromol/l; P = 0.01).<bold>Conclusions: </bold>Hyperhomo-cysteinemia emerged as an important independent risk factor for ischemic stroke. A strong positive correlation was also observed between hypertension, smoking, and high-tHcy levels in the present study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]