Homocysteine and cardiovascular diseases.

Elevated homocysteine blood concentrations have been identified as an independent risk factor for the development of atherosclerotic lesions. The metabolism of the amino acid homocysteine in the human body involves the vitamins folic acid, B-12 and B-6 as essential cofactors and coenzymes, respectively. There is an inverse relationship between the status of the relevant B-vitamins and the homocysteine blood concentration. Supplementation of these vitamins results in a significant reduction of the homocysteine level. However, nutritive amounts seems to be sufficient to obtain this reduction, even in the case of elevated homocysteine levels.