Analysis of Plasma Homocysteine Levels Among Patients with Chronic Renal Failure-A Spectroscopic Approach

Abstract

Plasma homocysteine concentration exhibits a strong relationship with renal function. Individuals with chronic renal failure were among the first in which homocysteine could be detected in blood. Recent population based observations demonstrate that plasma total homocysteine concentration are elevated in patients with renal insufficiency and that a lower glomerular filtration rate (GRF) is associated with a higher plasma homocysteine concentration. Hyperhomocystenemia is an independent risk factor for atherothrombotic disease in patients with pre-dialysis and endstage renal disease. The present study aims at employing FTIR spectroscopy for analyzing the blood plasma of renal failure patients with elevated homocysteine levels to detect spectral parameters which might serve as biomarker for identifying and detecting homocysteine levels. The FTIR spectrum of blood plasma of the renal failure patients were recorded and analyzed. The analysis let to the identification of specific modes of vibration pertaining to homocysteine in blood plasma. The internal ratio parameter was calculated. The absorbance values at these specific modes of vibration varied significantly from that of healthy volunteers. These parameters could be used as a basis for deriving a spectral method for determining and measuring plasma homocysteine spectroscopically.