Increments in Circulating Homocysteine before and after Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery in Diabetic and Non-diabetic Patients

Abstract

This study aims to assess total plasma homocysteine levels in diabetic and non-diabetic patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and to determine the effect of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) on homocysteine levels. Twenty diabetic and twenty non-diabetic patients who had CABG were enrolled in the study. Plasma samples for the assays were obtained before and after the CPB and on sixth day following the operation. Diabetic patients seemed to have higher levels of plasma total homocysteine in pre-CPB, post-CPB, and postoperative sixth day blood samples. There was a significant difference in total homocysteine levels between pre-CPB and post-CPB both in diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Although an association between the preoperative plasma total homocysteine levels and the frequency of 1-year graft occlusion could not be demonstrated, our data claims attention to the increased homocysteine levels during CPB, which sustained until the sixth day after the surgery.

Keywords:

• Homocysteine
• Cardiopulmonary bypass
• Coronary artery bypass grafting
• Diabetes mellitus