Volume 87, Issue 1, January (2002), pp. 71-79 © The Author 2002
doi:10.1079/BJN2001479

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Correlates of plasma homocysteine, cysteine and cysteinyl-glycine in respondents in the British National Diet and Nutrition Survey of Young People Aged 4–18 Years, and a comparison with the Survey of People Aged 65 Years and Over

C. J. Bates¹*, M. A. Mansoor², Jan Gregory³, Kristina Pentieva⁴ and Ann Prentice^1
1MRC Human Nutrition Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Fulbourn Road, Cambridge CB1 9NL, UK
²Department of Clinical Chemistry, Central Hospital in Rogaland, Stavanger, Norway
³Office for National Statistics, Social Survey Division, 1 Drummond Gate, London SW1V 2QQ, UK
⁴Northern Ireland Centre for Diet and Health, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland BT52 1SA, UK

 (Received 1 February 2001–Revised 2 August 2001–Accepted 6 September 2001)

Plasma total homocysteine (tHcy), cysteine and cysteinyl-glycine were measured in a representative sample of 922 young people aged 4–18 years, participating in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey in mainland Britain in 1997. Both tHcy and cysteine increased markedly with age; cysteinyl-glycine less so. Neither tHcy nor cysteine differed between genders; cysteinyl-glycine was higher in males. tHcy concentrations were lowest in the winter; cysteine and cysteinyl-glycine varied only slightly with season. In respondents aged >15 years, tHcy was higher in smokers, but in respondents aged 7–11 years, tHcy was higher in those whose mothers smoked. tHcy was inversely correlated with serum folate, serum vitamin B₁₂ and vitamin B₆ status, but neither cysteine nor cysteinyl-glycine shared these relationships. The relationships between tHcy and B-vitamin status indices ran parallel with those of the 65 years and over survey, but at much lower tHcy concentrations for any given B-vitamin concentration. Age-adjusted tHcy was not correlated with anthropometric indices, blood pressure, haematology, plasma creatinine, urea or cholesterol, but was directly correlated with fasting triacylglycerol. We conclude that disease-risk indices, like tHcy and perhaps cysteine, if established during early life, may be modulated by diet and lifestyle, thereby providing an opportunity for public health intervention.

Keywords:
Homocysteine: National Diet and Nutrition Survey: Vitamins: Children