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Homocysteine and risk of developing hypertension in men

T S Bowman1, J M Gaziano, M J Stampfer

  • 1Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Massachusetts Veterans Affairs Epidemiology, Research, and Information Center, Boston, MA, USA. tsbowman@partners.org

Journal of Human Hypertension
|May 26, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Elevated homocysteine levels may increase hypertension risk. This study found higher baseline plasma homocysteine in individuals who developed hypertension, suggesting a potential link between homocysteine and incident hypertension.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology
  • Metabolic Disorders
  • Clinical Biochemistry

Background:

  • Cross-sectional studies suggest a link between elevated homocysteine and higher blood pressure.
  • The causal role of plasma homocysteine as a risk factor for hypertension is not well-established.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether plasma homocysteine levels are a risk factor for the development of incident hypertension.
  • To determine the association between baseline plasma homocysteine and subsequent hypertension diagnosis.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective nested case-control study design.
  • Inclusion of 396 participants who developed hypertension and matched controls.
  • Measurement of baseline plasma homocysteine levels.

Main Results:

  • Participants who developed hypertension had significantly higher baseline plasma homocysteine (12.6 mol/l) compared to controls (11.8 mol/l, P=0.03).
  • The highest quintile of homocysteine showed a crude relative risk of 1.56 and a multivariable relative risk of 1.63 for incident hypertension.
  • The association between higher homocysteine and hypertension risk was minimally affected by multivariable adjustments, though not statistically significant (P for trend=0.13).

Conclusions:

  • Higher baseline plasma homocysteine levels are associated with an increased risk of incident hypertension.
  • While the association was not statistically significant, the findings suggest a potential role for homocysteine in hypertension development.
  • Further research may be warranted to clarify the clinical significance of homocysteine in hypertension etiology.

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