Advances in Association between Homocysteine and Coronary Heart Disease

The road of the research has lasted for more than forty years,but it is not clear whether hyperhomocysteinemia is a risk factor(= associated with the target disease and causally involved in its development) or a risk indicator(= associated with the target disease but not causally involved with its development) for coronary heart disease.A number of observational studies and meta-analyses have found that mild to moderate hyperhomocysteinemia has independent predict effect for the incidence and prognosis of cardiovascular disease.However,the recent large randomized controlled trials have confirmed that vitamin B supplementation(including folic acid) can reduce plasma homocysteine level effectively,but it cannot reduce the risk of cardiovascular events,especially coronary heart disease events,which have cast doubt on the role of hyperhomocysteinemia in coronary heart disease pathogenesis.In order to provide the basis for the recent clinical choice,this review focuses on the studies of the association between homocysteine and coronary heart disease.