Hyperhomocysteinemia, low vitamin B12, and low folic acid: Are risk factors of cerebral vascular thrombosis in northwest Iran?

Abstract

Cerebral vascular thrombosis (CVT) is the thrombosis of intracranial and sinuses. The aim of this is to estimate of risk of low folic acid, low vitamin B12, and hyperhomocysteinemia (hyper-Hcys) for CVT.A total of 24 patients with CVT and 36 healthy controls participated in a cross-sectional case-control study. The deficient levels of folic acid and vitamin B12 defined as <10th percentile of folic acid and vitamin B12 level and hyper-Hcys was defined as >90th percentile of homocysteine of control group.Patients had higher levels of total homocysteine (tHcys) than controls (14.7 ± 6.5 vs. 6.4 ± 2.7 ?mol/L, P = 0.001). Also, vitamin B12 level in case group was lower compared to control subjects (185.4 ± 58 vs. 299 ± 75 ng/mL, P = 0.001). Hyper-Hcys and low vitamin B12 were significantly more prevalent in CVT patients than controls. Although, significant independent association with risk of CVT was found for hyper-Hcys [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 14.3, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.6-77.1, P = 0.002] and low vitamin B12 (adjusted OR 24.6, 95% CI: 2.3-262.9, P = 0.008). Association between low folic acid and risk of CVT was not significant. A significant negative correlation was found between the levels of tHcys and vitamin B12 (r = -0.32, P = 0.01).Hyper-Hcys and low vitamin B12 were related with the high risk for CVT.