Reference interval determination of total plasma homocysteine in an Indian population.

Hyperhomocysteinemia has been shown to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease as well as retinal vascular occlusion. Because of the epidemiological, dietary, genetic and environmental diversity among the different countries, each country should establish the reference interval of homocysteine of their own population for recommending appropriate medical decision limits. Hence a total of 1,288 apparently healthy subjects including 636 male and 652 female were enrolled in the present study to determine the reference intervals of homocysteine in an Indian population. Results of the study were presented as mean, standard deviation, median and 2.5th and 97.5th percentile with the 0.90 confidence interval of each percentile values of homocysteine along with decade-wise changes.