Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026
Evaluation of the Cognitive Performance of Hypertensive Patients with Silent Cerebrovascular Lesions
Published on: April 23, 2021
Total homocysteine is associated with white matter hyperintensity volume: the Northern Manhattan Study
Clinton B Wright1, Myunghee C Paik, Truman R Brown
1Department of Neurology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA. cbw7@columbia.edu
Background:
Total homocysteine (tHcy) has been implicated as a risk factor for stroke and dementia, but the mechanism is unclear. White matter hyperintensities may be a risk factor for both, but studies of the relationship between tHcy and quantitative measures of white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV) are lacking, especially in minority populations.
Methods:
A community-based sample of 259 subjects with baseline tHcy levels underwent pixel-based quantitative measurement of WMHV. We examined the relationship between tHcy and WMHV adjusting for age, sociodemographics, vascular risk factors, and B12 deficiency.
Results:
Higher levels of tHcy were associated with WMHV adjusting for sociodemographics and vascular risk factors.
Conclusions:
These cross-sectional data provide evidence that tHcy is a risk factor for white matter damage.
Related Concept Videos
01:21Huntington Disease l: Introduction
01:19Blood Studies for Cardiovascular System II: CRP, Hcy, and Cardiac Natriuretic Peptide Markers
These markers indicate stress or strain on the heart muscle:
Natriuretic Peptides (BNP)
Cardiac myocytes produce these hormones in response to ventricular stretching...