Association between homocysteinemia and metabolic syndrome in patients with cardiovascular disease

BACKGROUND: This is an observational study undertaken in aim to evaluate the association between metabolic syndrome (MS) and high homocysteinemia (HHcy) in relation with cardiovascular disease (CVD). METHODS: The study involved 126 subjects with angiographically documented CVD and 65 healthy subjects. MS has been diagnosed according to the ATP III criteria and plasma homocysteine concentration has been evaluated. RESULTS: In patients with CVD the prevalence of MS and HHcy is 17.4% and 25.4% respectively; MS coexists with HHcy in 67.2% of patients; analogous results can be observed among men and women. HHcy and MS are associated with CVD (OR 2.53, 95% CI 1.95–12.43 and OR 5.74, 95% CI 2.67–12.34 respectively) but the presence of the two conditions gives rise to a stronger increase in CVD risk (OR 13.11, 95% CI 5.27–32.06). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that HHcy and MS could work together in increasing CVD risk.