Effects of White European, African Caribbean and South Asian ethnicity on homocysteine levels in patients with systolic heart failure

BACKGROUND: Patients with heart failure of any cause have elevated homocysteine compared to healthy controls. A number of studies in the UK and other western countries have documented higher levels of homocysteine among South Asian than among White European or African Caribbean subjects both in health and in disease, and have suggested that dietary deficiency of folate is the main cause for the difference. METHODS: Plasma homocysteine, vitamin B(12), and folate levels were measured in a multiethnic UK heart failure clinic population (n=112), and compared to matched control subjects (n=131). RESULTS: Plasma homocysteine levels were significantly higher in heart failure patients than controls (p