Red blood cell distribution width predicts homocysteine levels in adult population without vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies.

OBJECTIVES: Our aim in this study was to explore the relationship between red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and homocysteine levels in an adult population.

METHODS: The study included 344 subjects who underwent health check-up in our hospital. The demographic characteristics and laboratory parameters of participants were grouped in accordance with tertiles of RDW.

RESULTS: An increase of homocysteine levels was found from the first to third tertiles of RDW in all participants. There was a positive correlation between RDW and homocysteine (r=0.227, P<0.001) in all participants. After adjustment for gender, age, neutrophil count (NC), lymphocyte count (LC), hemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), platelet count (PLC), creatinine (Cr), vitamin B12 and folate. RDW was found to be strongly associated with homocysteine independently of age, NC, MCV and Hb values in multivariable logistic regression analysis (OR=1.501; 95% CI, 1.290-1.746; P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present study suggest that RDW may predict homocysteine levels among the study population, the results may support that elevated RDW should be considered to be a marker of cardiovascular events. However, the results need to be affirmed in future studies with larger samples.