Fasting homocysteine levels in a cross-section of Saudi adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus

AimStudies have shown homocysteine to be an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis and CVD in both diabetic and non-diabetic subjects. However, the association between the levels of homocysteine and type 1 diabetes mellitus remains a controversial one. Our aim is to test this in a cross-section of the Saudi type 1 diabetics against non-diabetics to establish the relationship of homocysteine with regards to type 1 diabetics and non-diabetics.Materials and methodsA total of 97 subjects (41 males, 56 females) participated in this cross-sectional study done at the diabetic clinic of King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital Diabetic Centre, Riyadh, KSA. They were divided according to the presence of type 1 DM. Glycemic and lipid parameters were measured using routing procedures. Hcys was measured using photometric assay.ResultsAmong males, hcys levels were significantly lower among the diabetic subjects (p-value 0.03). Females with type 1 diabetes however have higher total cholesterol levels than their control counterparts (p-value 0.003). Among the control group, gender and HDL-cholesterol exhibited significant inverse relationships with hcys (p-values 0.028 and 0.032, respectively) and a strong positive association with body mass index (p-value 0.034). Among the diabetic group, only age was significantly associated with hcys (p-value 0.009).ConclusionIn the Arab population, hcys is decreased in IDDM subjects compared to non-diabetic subjects. Hcys was correlated to BMI and inversely associated to HDL-C among the non-diabetics. Further studies are needed to test the hypothesis in diabetics with disease complications.