%A   Ton, So Har
%A   Gill, Shiela Kaur
%A   Low, Wai Yee
%A   Voon, Kerk Qin
%J Malaysian Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
%T Homocysteine, Folic Acid and Vitamin C in Young Malaysian Smokers and Non Smokers: a Preliminary Report
%X Homocysteine, folic acid and vitamin C have been shown to play a role in cardiovascular diseases. As smoking is on the rise in Malaysia and the smokers are getting younger it was decided to determine the levels of homocysteine, folic acid and vitamin C in some young Malaysian smokers. Sera from 105 subjects (65 smokers, 40 non-smokers, ages 20-30 years) were analyzed for homocysteine, folic acid and vitamin C. In non smokers the mean serum folate concentration was 11.9 ? 3.1 ng/ml while the mean serum homocysteine concentration was 9.2 ? 3.1 ?mol/L. In smokers the mean serum folate concentration was 7.6 ? 3.7 ng/ml while the homocysteine concentration was 10.7 ? 2.8 ?mol/L. Statistical analysis revealed that the smokers had significantly lower folate concentration and higher homocysteine concentration compared to non -smokers (p ? 0.05). Homocysteine and vitamin C concentrations in erythrocyte were also determined. The mean erythrocyte homocysteine concentration in non- smokers was 0.29 ? 0.2 ?mol/L and in smokers it was 0.24 ? 0.1 ?mol/L. However no significant difference was observed between the smokers and non- smokers. Vitamin C analysis showed that there was no difference in its concentration between sera (2.51 ? 2.7 vs 1.02 ? 0.8 ng/ml) and erythrocytes (6.76 ? 2.7 vs 7.17 ? 1.2 ng/ml) of smokers and non-smokers.
%N 1
%K homocysteine, folic acid, vitamin C, smokers
%P 58-60
%V 12
%D 2005
%I Malaysian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
%L myais2263