Hyperhomocysteinemia in ulcerative colitis is related to folate levels

Table 1 Epidemiological and clinical data of study subjects

	UC patients (95%CI)	Healthy controls (95%CI)
Subjects (n)	40	50
Gender (female/male)	20/20	25/25
Mean age (yrSD)(range)	41.65±15.21	39.96±14.33
	[36.78-46.52] (17-71)	[35.89-44.03] (17-72)
Mean disease duration (mo±SD)(range)	56.65±63.18
	[36.44-76.86] (3-216)
Current smoking (%)	9 (22.5)
Extent of UC (%)
Rectum/sigmoid	9 (22.5)
Left colitis	22 (55.5)
Pancolitis	9 (22.5)
Activity of UC (%)
Active	28 (70)
Inactive	12 (30)
Extraintestinal complications (%)	6 (15)
Thrombotic complications (%)	2 (5)
Medical treatment
None	1 (2.5)
5-ASA	35 (87.5)
SASP	1 (2.5)
Steroids	17 (42.5)
Immunosuppressors (AZA/6-MP)	11 (27.5)

Table 2 Serum Hcys levels in male and female subjects in study groups

	Hcys (mol/L)		P
	Male	Female
Controls	13.7 (8.17-22.06)	11.94 (5.97-16.99)	0.005
UC	14 (9.13-35.8)	11.07 (7.15-26.6)	0.011
Total	13.72 (8.17-35.8)	11.87 (5.97-26.6)	0.0003

Values are expressed as medians (range).Comparisons were performed using MannWhitneys test.

Table 3 Pearson coefficient analysis of variables within UC group

	log-Hcys	Age	log-folic acid	log-B12
log-Hcys
Coefficient	1.000	0.016	0.466	0.163
P	0.000	0.920	0.002	0.314
Age
Coefficient	0.016	1.000	0.189	0.039
P	0.920	0.000	0.244	0.811
log-folic acid
Coefficient	0.466	0.189	1.000	0.193
P	0.002	0.244	0.000	0.234
log-B12
Coefficient	0.163	0.039	0.193	1.000
P	0.314	0.811	0.234	0.000