Homocysteine in the prevention of ischemic heart disease, stroke and venous thromboembolism: therapeutic target or just another distraction?

Purpose of review Homocysteine has been proposed as a potentially modifiable risk factor for arterial and venous vascular disease. This notion is supported by a large body of literature derived from observations in patients with rare inborn errors of metabolism associated with homocystinuria, experimental studies, which show that homocysteine promotes atherogenesis and thrombosis and epidemiological studies, which in general suggest a graded …