Homocysteine toxicity in connective tissue: theories, old and new

Hyperhomocysteinemia causes connective tissue pathology. Several theories on the mechanism of homocysteine toxicity in connective tissue are reviewed briefly. A possible new mechanism was revealed recently in the discovery of a reaction in which homocysteine thiolactone is converted to mercaptopropionaldehyde. The reaction is the Strecker degradation of amino acids in which ninhydrin is replaced by the structurally similar dehydroascorbic acid. The reaction may occur in vivo and may be pathogenic to connective tissue in four ways: (1) the reaction may deplete ascorbic acid that is required for collagen synthesis, (2) the mercaptoaldehyde product may interfere with collagen synthesis, (3) the mercaptoaldehyde may cause abnormal cross-linking of collagen molecules, and (4) the mercaptoaldehyde may attach to collagen molecules rendering them antigenic and triggering an autoimmune response.