Homocysteine and Total Antioxidant Status in Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients Among Tamil Population

Oxidative stress is prerequisite for the development of atherosclerosis. Apart from the traditional risk factors that contribute to this devastating condition, in the past few decades, much attention has been focused on plasma total homocysteine mainly because of its strong association with coronary artery disease. It has been suggested that homocysteine induces oxidative stress and hence the present work was undertaken to assess the total homocysteine status and plasma total antioxidant capacity in the acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients among Tamil population. The study subjects included only the Tamil population. Blood samples were collected from 100 AMI patients and 100 controls. Plasma was separated and the total antioxidant status was assessed as a measure of ferric reducing power of antioxidants using spectrophotometric method. Plasma total homocysteine concentrations were assessed by automated chemiluminescence method. While Total antioxidant status was significantly decreased, the plasma homocysteine concentrations were elevated in AMI patients compared to the controls. However, there was no correlation between the homocysteine levels and total antioxidant status. The findings of this study may have therapeutic implications, including food sources rich in antioxidants for all AMI patients to minimize the effect of free radicals formed during oxidative stress among Tamil population.