Association between Hyperhomocysteinemia and Hypertensive Retinopathy in a Chinese Han Population

ABSTRACT

Purpose/aim: In some diseases, hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) has been recognized as a risk factor. However, information on the correlation between HHcy and hypertensive retinopathy (HR) in the Chinese population is unclear. We, therefore, aimed to investigate this association.

Materials and Methods: A total of 382 patients were collected and 126 individuals were excluded in this study. Finally, 128 patients with HR and 128 control subjects were enrolled sequentially. The association between HHcy and the occurrence of HR was determined by multivariate logistic regression analysis, including interaction and stratified analyses.

Results: HHcy, cardiovascular disease, fasting blood glucose, creatinine, triglyceride, diabetes, smoking habits, drinking habits were significantly associated with HR (P < .05) in the univariate logistic regression analysis. Each increase of 1 μmol/L of homocysteine concentration was significantly correlated with a 9% increased risk of HR (odds ratio [OR] = 1.09, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07–1.55, P < .05). Hierarchical analysis identified history of diabetes (OR = 7.38, P > .05), age ≥60 years (OR = 3.08, P > .05), male sex (OR = 1.04, P > .05), history of cardiovascular disease (OR = 7.88, P > .05), smoking habit (OR = 1.08, P > .05), and drinking habit (OR = 78.31, P > .05), as factors associated with HR, but not as independent risk factors for HR. Interaction analysis demonstrated no interaction between HHcy and HR.

Conclusions: Within the Chinese Han population, HHcy is an independent risk factor for HR.

KEYWORDS:

• Hypertensive retinopathy
• Hyperhomocysteinemia
• Homocysteine
• risk factor
• case–control study

Acknowledgments

The present study was supported by the Tianjin Science and Technology Project, China under Grant No.08ZCGYSF01700. We thank Susan Furness, from Liwen Bianji, Edanz Editing China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac), for professional English-language editing the English text of this paper. We are also grateful for the contribution of the editors and anonymous reviewers related to our paper during its preparation.

Declaration of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.