Vol. 6, Issue 1, Part A (2024)

Background: One third of all deaths globally are thought to result from cardiovascular disease, and its incidence is continually rising. Being one of the diseases with several contributing causes, CVD is challenging to identify a single culprit. 
Aims of the study: Determine the relationship between homocysteine and troponin levels in the blood and the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Methodology: A case-control study conducted at Al-Sadr general hospital and Maysan heart center in Maysan Governorate, Iraq from August 2023 to March 2024, it included 3 groups: a control group of 60 healthy individuals (40 males and 20 females), a group of 80 people with arterial syndrome. Acute coronary heart disease (50 males and 30 females), and a group of 40 individuals with chronic stable angina (22 males and 18 females). Ages ranged between 28 and 67 years. Cases that had pre-existing diseases that might affect the study results were excluded. 5 ml of each participant's blood was collected and analyzed after freezing at -20°C to measure homocysteine and troponin levels via ELISA.
Result: The results did not show statistically significant differences in homocysteine and troponin levels between men and women in cases of acute and chronic myocardial infarction. There was a statistical significance in the levels of troponin and homocysteine in the infarction group compared to the control group, without any significant differences compared to the diabetes group. The results also revealed statistical significance in cardiac indicators for the high blood pressure group with acute versus chronic infarction, and for the non-hypertensive groups with acute versus chronic infarction. 
Conclusion: The results indicate that high levels of homocysteine and troponin are not affected by gender in cases of myocardial infarction, but their effect is clear compared to healthy individuals, confirming the importance of these indicators in diagnosing myocardial infarction. The lack of significance with the diabetes group suggests that diabetes does not directly affect these levels during infarction. Differences between blood pressure groups also highlight the importance of examining the effects of pressure on the development of infarction, whether acute or chronic.