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Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Vitamin B12 (B12) deficiency, by virtue of causing hyperhomocysteinemia (HHC), may be implicated as an acquired risk factor of ischemic stroke (IS), which is also easily modifiable. There is a scarcity of data from India regarding the prevalence of B12 deficiency in IS patients.

OBJECTIVES:

The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between B12 and folate deficiency, HHC, and IS.

DESIGN:

The study was a case–control study.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Eighty cases of IS were compared with equal number of age- and sex-matched controls. Plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) level, serum B12, and folate levels were analyzed as continuous data (Student's

t

-test) as well as categorical data (Chi-square test). Odds ratio (OR) for the occurrence of IS was calculated for each variable. Correlation of tHcy with serum B12 and folate was studied using Pearson's coefficient.

RESULTS:

Mean homocysteine was higher in cases compared to controls (20.49 ± 12.64 vs. 13.09 ± 6.96 μmol/L,

P

< 0.001, while B12 (282.46 ± 161.52 vs. 480 ± 248.92 pg/ml,

P

< 0.001) and folate (10.49 ± 6.86 vs. 17.00 ± 5.52 ng/ml,

P

< 0.001) were lower. Both HHC (OR 4.48, 95% confidence interval: 1.99–10.07,

P

+ 0.0003) and B12 deficiency emerged as significant risk factors for occurrence of IS. Negative correlation of homocysteine with B12 (

r

= 0.457,

P

< 0.0001) and folate (

r

= 0.337,

P

= 0.0001) was observed.

CONCLUSIONS:

HHC appears to be an important risk factor for IS in Indian population. B12 deficiency is a major acquired cause for the same while folate deficiency is relatively rare.

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228

Last Page

233

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