The MTHFR 677T Allele May Influence the Severity and Biochemical Risk Factors of Alzheimer’s Disease in an Egyptian Population

Table 3

Clinical characteristics and plasma levels of homocysteine, vitamin B12, and lipids in Alzheimer’s cases and controls.

Parameter	AD cases	Controls	Reference values
Number of patients	43	32
Gender ratio (male : female)	1 : 2.1	1 : 2.2
Age range, years	60–88	60–88
Mean age ± SD, years	69.2 ± 8.1	70.7 ± 8.8 y
Late onset (>65 y)^a	25 (58.1%)	—
Family history, (+)^a,b	2 (4.7%)	0 (0%)
Educational level (<8 y)^a	39 (91%)	26 (81%)
Diabetes Mellitus, yes^a	14 (32.6%)	7 (21.9%)
Hypertension, yes^a	17 (39.5%)	18 (41.9%)
Anti-inflammatory drugs, yes^a	5 (11.6%)	6 (18.8%)
Homocysteine^c	18.4 ± 6.3^d	13.0 ± 3.8	4–12.3 μmol/L
Vitamin B12^c	310.1 ± 120.2^e	400.2 ± 238.0	157–1059 pg/mL
Total cholesterol^c	210.5 ± 30.1^f	205 ± 40.5	150–200 mg/dL
LDL^c	133.5 ± 32.5^f	130.4 ± 20.8	100–129 mg/dL
HDL^c	57.7 ± 18.4^f	55.3 ± 15.5	>45 mg/dL
Triglycerides^c	113.0 ± 60.0^f	125.4 ± 65.3	60–150 mg/dL

Abbreviations. AD: Alzheimer’s disease; SD: standard deviation.
^aNumber of patients, with percentages in parentheses.
^bFamily history was considered (+) if there was more than one case of Alzheimer’s disease in the same family and (−) if the case was sporadic.
^cStudent's t-test. Values are mean ± SD.
^dP < 0.0001, very highly significant difference.
^eP = 0.0005, highly significant difference.
^fP > 0.05, no significant difference.