Abstract

MENENDEZ CABEZAS, Arturo. Hemocysteine Metabolism and its Relation with Atheroesclerosis. AMC [online]. 1999, vol.3, n.4, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1025-0255.

A review is made about the details of the homocysteine metabolism, a sulfur­ containing aminoacid which is formed ONrmally from methionine while performing its role as a methyl­group donor. Its possible metabolic fates are analyzed, in particular the remethylation and transsulfuration pathways, in which the coenzymatic forms of vitamins Folacine, B12 and B6 are involved, also its oxidation that renders homocystine and mixed disulfides including the so­called protein­ bound homocysteine, the main circulating form in plasma, as well as other fates reported in the scientific literature. There is reference to the plasma concentration estimation methods and the reference values, and an analysis of the possible causes of hyperhomocysteinemia, as well as the physiopathological mechanisms linking this condition with atherogenesis in an attempt to explain the relationship between hyperhomocysteinemia and atherosclerosis, that has been postulated on the basis of the results of several epidemiological and clinical studies of the last 30 years.

Keywords : HEMOCYSTEINE [metabolism]; ATHEROSCLEROSIS; HOMOCYSTINE.

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