TY - JOUR T1 - HOmocysteine-lowering b vitamin therapy in cardiovascular prevention—wrong again? AU - Lonn E Y1 - 2008/05/07 N1 - 10.1001/jama.299.17.2086 JO - JAMA SP - 2086 EP - 2087 VL - 299 IS - 17 N2 - In 1969, McCully first proposed that homocysteine, an amino acid produced during catabolism of methionine, causes arterial and venous atherothrombotic disease.1 This theory was based on observations that children with extreme elevations of plasma homocysteine concentrations due to inborn errors of metabolism also had premature atherothrombotic disease. While the genetic disorders associated with homocystinuria are rare, these conditions provide an in vivo human model for vascular injury associated with exposure to high homocysteine concentrations. Subsequent in vitro and in vivo studies confirmed that in experimental settings, homocysteine can cause atherothrombosis by promoting oxidative stress, endothelial cell damage, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, thrombosis, and cell proliferation.2 SN - 0098-7484 M3 - doi: 10.1001/jama.299.17.2086 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.299.17.2086 ER -