UC Davis

Little attention has been given to the association of plasma homocysteine (Hcy) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in children. We have evaluated the risk of MetS with plasma Hcy in a cohort of 6 to 8 year old rural Nepalese children, born to mothers who had participated in an antenatal micronutrient supplementation trial. We assessed Hcy in plasma from a random selection of n = 1000 children and determined the relationship of elevated Hcy (>12.0 μmol/L) to MetS (defined as the presence of any three of the following: abdominal adiposity (waist circumference ≥ 85th percentile of the study population), high plasma glucose (≥ 85th percentile), high systolic or diastolic blood pressure (≥ 90th percentile of reference population), triglyceride ≥ 1.7 mmol/L and high density lipoprotein < 0.9 mmol/L.) and its components. There was an increased risk of low high-density lipoproteins (HDL), [odds ratios (OR) = 1.77, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = 1.08-2.88; p = 0.020], high blood pressure [OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.10-2.46; p = 0.015] and high body mass index (BMI) [OR = 1.98, 95% CI = 1.33-2.96; p = 0.001] with elevated Hcy. We observed an increased risk of MetS (OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.06-2.90; p = 0.029) with elevated Hcy in age and gender-adjusted logistic regression models. High plasma Hcy is associated with increased risk of MetS and may have implications for chronic disease later in life.