OBJECTIVES To elaborate the relationship between serum homocysteine (hcy) levels and vascular related pregnancy complications in pregnant women as well as to assess the homocysteine lowering effects of folate, vitamin 812 and 86. The secondary objectives were to establish a link between serum homocysteine levels and maternal age, parity, gestational age, foetal birth weight, mean arterial press...

We reported previously that homocysteine (Hcy) inhibits endothelial cell (EC) growth by transcriptional inhibition of the cyclin A gene via a hypomethylation-related mechanism. In this study, we examined the effect of Hcy on epigenetic modification of the cyclin A gene and its biologic role in human ECs. Cyclin A mRNA levels were significantly suppressed by Hcy and a DNA methyltransferase inhib...

Little attention has been given to the association of plasma homocysteine (Hcy) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in children. We have evaluated the risk of MetS with plasma Hcy in a cohort of 6 to 8 year old rural Nepalese children, born to mothers who had participated in an antenatal micronutrient supplementation trial. We assessed Hcy in plasma from a random selection of n = 1000 children and de...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the primary cause of death in Korea. Hyperhomocysteinemia confers an independent risk for CVD comparable to the risk of smoking and hyperlipidemia. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of cardiovascular risk factors and body composition change on homocysteine (Hcy) levels in Korean men and women. The association between body composition and Hcy leve...

To the Editor: Hyperhomocysteinemia confers an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis besides the well-established risk factors, such as hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking habit and family history [1 /3]. However, the effect of statins (especially the most potent drugs of this class) on homocysteine (Hcy) plasma levels is not yet well established. Five recently...

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) have been linked to schizophrenia 27 because agents that bind the receptor, like ketamine and PCP, are capable of inducing 28 schizophrenia-like symptoms. Here we show that the amino acid homocysteine (HCY), 29 which is increased in the blood of schizophrenia patients, reduces desensitization of 30 NMDARs in cultured mouse cortical neurons, HEK cells tran...

BACKGROUND Disturbances in the levels of one-carbon (1C) metabolism metabolites have been associated with a wide variety of neuropsychiatric diseases. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of homocysteine (Hcy) and the other 1C metabolites, nor their interrelatedness and putative determinants, have been studied extensively in a healthy population. METHODS Plasma and CSF samples from 100 individual...

Previously, it was reported that homocysteine (Hcy) specifically inhibits the growth of endothelial cells (ECs), suppresses Ras/mitogen-activated protein (MAP) signaling, and arrests cell growth at the G(1)/S transition of the cell cycle. The present study investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying this cell-cycle effect. Results showed that clinically relevant concentrations (50 microM) ...

Although homocysteine (Hcy) has been widely implicated in the etiology of various physical health impairments, especially cardiovascular diseases, overwhelming evidence indicates that Hcy is also involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and affective disorders. There are several mechanisms linking Hcy to biological underpinnings of psychiatric disorders. It has been found that Hcy inter...

Hyperhomocysteinemia is characterized by an abnormally high level of homocysteine (Hcy) in the blood and is associated with cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. Endothelial dysfunction may lead to the pro-atherogenic effects associated with hyperhomocysteinemia. Endothelial dysfunction induced by Hcy has been previously investigated; however, the underlying molecular mechanism remai...