Plasma homocysteine levels and associated factors in community-dwelling adolescents: the EVA-TYROL study

Nina Gande; Christoph Hochmayr; Anna Staudt; Benoît Bernar; Katharina Stock; Sophia J Kiechl; Ralf Geiger; Andrea Griesmacher; Sabine Scholl-Bürgi; Michael Knoflach; Raimund Pechlaner; Ursula Kiechl-Kohlendorfer; (Early Vascular Ageing) EVA Study Group

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2023.1140990

Plasma homocysteine levels and associated factors in community-dwelling adolescents: the EVA-TYROL study

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2023 Jun 23:10:1140990. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.1140990. eCollection 2023.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics II (Neonatology), Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
² Department of Pediatrics I, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
³ Department of Pediatrics III (Cardiology), Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, Bruneck Hospital, Bruneck, Italy.
⁶ Central Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.

Abstract

Background: Homocysteine (Hcy) has been associated with an adverse cardiovascular risk profile in adolescents. Assessment of the association between plasma Hcy levels and clinical/laboratory factors might improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease.

Methods: Hcy was measured in 1,900 14- to 19-year-old participants of prospective population-based EVA-TYROL Study (44.3% males, mean age 16.4 years) between 2015 and 2018. Factors associated with Hcy were assessed by physical examination, standardized interviews, and fasting blood analysis.

Results: Mean plasma Hcy was 11.3 ± 4.5 µmol/L. Distribution of Hcy was characterized by extreme right skew. Males exhibited higher Hcy and sex differences increased with increasing age. Univariate associations with Hcy emerged for age, sex, body mass index, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and for factors pertaining to blood pressure, glucose metabolism, renal function, and diet quality, whereas the most important multivariate predictors of Hcy were sex and creatinine.

Discussion: Clinical and laboratory factors associated with Hcy in adolescents were manifold, with sex and high creatinine identified as strongest independent determinants. These results may aid when interpreting future studies investigating the vascular risk of homocysteine.

Keywords: adolescents; cardiovascular risk factors; epidemiology; health prevention; homocysteine.

Grants and funding

The Early Vascular Ageing (EVA) Tyrol Study is supported by the Excellence Initiative Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies (COMET) of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG: “Research Center of Excellence in Vascular Ageing - Tyrol, VASCage” (K-Project No. 843536) funded by Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie, Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Wirtschaft, Wirtschaftsagentur Wien and Standortagentur Tirol. The funders had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.