Association of Vitamin D and Homocysteine Level in Angiographically Proven Coronary Heart Disease Patients

Introduction: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the result of the accumulation of atheromatous plaques within the walls of the arteries. Many well established risk factors have been associated with CHD however, Vitamin D deficiency has traditionally been linked with poor bone health. Results from several studies indicate that low levels of vitamin D may be linked to a higher risk of ischemic heart disease. Elevated levels of homocysteine emerge as independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Aims/Objective: To study the association of vessel wall blockade, in CHD subjects, with the level of circulating vitamin D and homocysteine levels and to establish the relationship between vitamin D and homocysteine with degree of vessel wall blockade. Materials and Methods: The samples (non fasting venous blood) were collected from the Department of Cardiology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow. Samples were separated on the site within an hour of venipuncture and stored at -20oC. Further the samples were estimated for vitamin D and homocysteine levels in the subjects. Result/ Conclusion: Homocysteine level was significantly (p=0.0001) higher among the cases compared with the controls. However, the vitamin D level was significantly lower among the cases than controls. Our study results conclude that the measurement of homocysteine and vitamin D levels might prove to be a useful marker in early detection of CHD.