The tole of homocysteine, folate and other B-vitamins in the development of atherosclerosis / El papel de hemocisteina, folate y otras vitaminas B in el desarrollo de aterosclerosis

RESUMO

Recently, elevated homocysteine blood concentrations have been identified as an independent risks factor for the develoment of atherosclerotic lesions. The amino acid homocysteine is metabolized in the human body involving the vitamins folic acid, B12 and B6 as essential cofactors and coenzymes, respectively. There is an inverse relationship between the status of the relevant B-vitamins and the homocysteine blood concentration. supplementation if these vitamins results in a significant reduction of the homocysteine level. Nutritive amounts seem to be sufficient to obtain this reduction, even in the case of elevated homocysteine levels