International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Current Research ISSN: 2321-3124 Research Article Available at: http://ijmcr.com 1398|Int. J. of Multidisciplinary and Current research, Vol.5 (Nov/Dec 2017) Assessment of Homocysteine level in H.pylori infected Sudanese Patients Moal Salah Abdallah Ahmed 1* , Awad-Elkareem Abass 2 and Amira Ahmed Khalid Humeida 3 1 Department of Hematology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Al- Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan 2 Department of Hematology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Khartoum University, Khartoum, Sudan 3 Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan Received 15 Sept 2017, Accepted 20 Nov 2017, Available online 30 Nov 2017, Vol.5 (Nov/Dec 2017 issue) Abstract The body turns back homocysteine into methionine with the help of vitamin B12. H.pylori induced -gastritis impairs folate and vitamin B12 absorption leading to B12 deficiency. Consequently homocysteine level will increase because this reaction cannot take place. The study aimed to assess the homocysteine level in H.pylori infected patients and H.pylori non-infected controls, to correlate the level of homocysteine with the duration of infection. A case control study was conducted in Khartoum state, Sudan. Thirty patients with H.pylori infection were recruited; 7 cases were treated. Age and sex matched 30 apparently healthy subjects with no H.pylori infection were enrolled as controls. The presence of H.pylori infection was diagnosed clinically and confirmed by stool antigen test. Plasma homocysteine level was measured using Biosystem reagents (homocysteine enzymatic cycling) and fully automated Biosystem device (A15). Homocysteine was increased in 21 (70%) out of 30 H.pylori infected cases. There was a significant difference in homocysteine level (P-value: 0.018) between cases and controls; with a mean of 17.6, 14. 5 μmol/L ; respectively. Moreover, there was a significant association between H.pylori infection and Homocysteinemia ( P-value was < 0.0002). However there was no significant difference in homocysteine level (P-value: 0.23) between treated and un-treated cases; with a mean of 17.1, 19.3 μmol/L ; respectively. In a linear regression analysis; there was a moderate positive correlation between plasma homocysteine level and durations of H.pylori infection ( 6-12 ,˃12 months); with correlation co-efficient; R : 0.5; ( p =0.004 , p=0.0001;) respectively. The plasma homocysteine level increases in H.pylori infection. There is a positive correlation between Homocysteine level and the duration of H.pylori infection. Keywords: Homocysteine, H.pylori, gastric atrophy, gastritis etc. Introduction 1 H. pylori is a gram-negative bacterium with perfect adaptation to the acidic environment of the stomach and high affinity to gastric epithelial cells (1). It is a bacterium that occurs worldwide with a prevalence specially it is common in developing countries. H. pylori infection causes peptic ulcer, gastritis, dyspeptic symptomatology, low-grade mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma and gastric adenocarcinoma. The association between H. pylori infection and gastric disease has been well established (2,3). In fact it has been classified as a type 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Additionally recent studies showed that there is a significant association between the H. pylori and extragastric disease such as iron deficiency (4) anemia, hepatocellular (5) carcinoma and asthma (6). Methionine is an essential amino acid obtained from protein in the diet. Some methionine is turned into homocysteine. The body turns much of this homocysteine back into *Corresponding author’s ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0833-3769 methionine with the help of vitamin B12. If someone is B12-deficient, homocysteine levels will increase because this reaction cannot take place. Keeping homocysteine at levels associated with lower rates of disease requires both adequate B12 and folic acid status. Low vitamin B6 status can also cause elevated homocysteine in some people (7). Normal serum homocysteine levels are from 2.2 to 13.2 µmol/l. (8) Levels of homocysteine in typical Western populations are about 12 µmol/l (9). Elevated homocysteine levels may be due to genetic defects of enzymes in methionine metabolism. However, the majority of cases of hyperhomocysteinemia are attributed to low levels of vitamin B12 and/or folic acid, which are co-factors of the most important enzymes of the methionine metabolic pathway (10). Recently, several studies have suggested an epidemiological association between Helicobacter pylori infection and atherosclerotic-related diseases (11, 12). H. pylori infection is the main cause of chronic active gastritis (12). An intriguing hypothesis postulates that the gastric damage induced by H. pylori infection may affect