This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Homocysteine treatment improved urine protein/creatinine ratio in patients with lupus
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
WASHINGTON — Treatment of high homocysteine levels improved the urine protein/creatinine ratio in patients with lupus, according to data presented at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting.
“I want everyone to care about homocysteine,” Michelle A. Petri, MD, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a presentation. “Because it produces oxidative stress, and that is important to us in lupus because that triggers platelet activation and thrombosis.”
However, the treatment of homocysteine levels is discouraged because studies have yet to determine whether this can reduce coronary events, Petri and Wei Fu, also from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, wrote in their study abstract.
To determine whether homocysteine treatment can help patients with lupus, Petri and Fu assessed 1,623 patients with lupus. Of these patients, most were female. Among patients, 604 had at least two homocysteine measurements and 272 had at least three measurement.
For the first homocysteine measurement, 85.6% of patients were below 15 µmol/L. The researchers treated high homocysteine levels with folic acid or Folbic. Afterward, they assessed the association between homocysteine and the urine protein/creatinine ratio.
After adjusting for sex and ethnicity, researchers found a 10-µmol/L decrease in homocysteine within an individual was associated with a 0.011-unit decrease in the urine protein/creatinine ratio. This association remained significant after investigators excluded patients with a first-day homocysteine level of less than 15 µmol/L and a same-day urine protein/creatinine ratio of less than 0.2. Furthermore, investigators found the association did not change after they adjusted for serum creatinine.
“Now my follow-up of these patients is too short to address the most important hypothesis, which is if we kept homocysteine down, would we be able to slow or prevent more renal damage,” Petri said. “That will take several years of follow-up.” – by Will Offit
Reference:
Petri MA, et al. Abstract #963. Presented at: American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting; Nov. 11-16, 2016; Washington.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.