The Relationship between the Plasma Homocysteine and Intracranial Artery Stenosis in Patients with Cerebral Infarction

Objective To investigate the relationship between the plasma homocysteine (Hcy) and intracranial artery stenosis in patients with cerebral infarction. Methods 185 adult patients with cerebral infarction experienced magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) were selected. The subjects were divided into 3 groups according to the severity of lesion of the intraeranial artery. The proportion of subjects with high level of plasma Hcy was compared in different groups. Conventional risk factors of cerebral infarction such as age, sex, smoking, drinking, hypertension, diabetes, plasma Hcy, triglyceride (TG), cholesterin (TC) were evaluated in 185 subjects. Results (1) In three groups, the proportion of subjects with high level of plasma Hcy were 12.5%, 37.5% and 57.0% respectively. The proportion tended to increase with the severity of vessels. (2) Based on the Logistic regression model, the odds ratio of high level of plasma Hcy was 2. 033 (95%CI: 1. 041 3. 967, P0.05) with additional adjustment for conventional risk factors. Conclusions High level of plasma Hcy is associated with intracranial artery atherosclerosis and may be an independent risk factor for intracranial artery stenosis in patients with cerebral infarction.