Serum homocysteine level and eye involvement in Egyptian patients with Behçet’s disease

Aim of the workTo investigate the possible role of serum homocysteine in the eye involvement in Egyptian patients with Behçet’s disease (BD).Patients and methodsA case–control study was made on 27 patients with BD (17 males and 10 females with a mean age of 32.11 ± 7.16 years) and 19 healthy control subjects. All patients fulfilled the criteria of the International Study Group for BD. The patients were categorized as BD with eye involvement (n = 12), or BD without eye involvement (n = 15). Serum homocysteine and C-reactive protein levels were studied in all patients and controls.ResultsThe mean serum homocysteine concentrations were significantly higher in BD patients than in healthy controls (15.56 ± 3.52 and 7.32 ± 1.38 μmol/L, respectively; P < 0.001). Also, the mean serum homocysteine concentrations were significantly higher in BD patients with eye involvement compared to those without eye involvement (18.50 ± 3 and 13.2 ± 1.61 μmol/L, respectively; P < 0.001). CRP, as a marker of disease activity was significantly higher in BD patients than in controls (14.33 ± 8.28 and 3.21 ± 1.72 mg/L, respectively; P < 0.001), however, no significant difference (P = 0.213) in CRP levels was found between BD patients with or without eye involvement.ConclusionHomocysteine may play a role in BD patients with ocular involvement. Assessment of homocysteine may be important in the investigation and management of patients with BD, especially with ocular disease.