Relationship between plasma homocysteine and chronic kidney disease in US patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional study

Aims This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between plasma homocysteine (Hcy) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in US patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods We used data from the 2003–2006 National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (NHANES). CKD was defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate < 60 ml/min/1.73 m 2 and/or urinary albumin-creatine ratio ≥ 3 mg/mmol. Results This study included 1018 patients with T2DM. The mean Hcy value was 10.2 ± 4.6 μmol/L. Among the patients, 417 (40.96%) had hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) and 480 (47.15%) had CKD. The Hcy level was higher in patients with CKD than in those without CKD. Compared to patients with normal Hcy, those with HHcy were older and had worse renal function. After full multivariate adjustment, HHcy was positively associated with the risk of CKD in US patients with T2DM (OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.11–1.22; P < 0.001), which for women was 1.15 (95% CI, 1.08 ~ 1.23; P < 0.001) and for men was 1.18 (95% CI, 1.1 ~ 1.27; P < 0.001). Conclusions HHcy was independently associated with CKD in patients with T2DM. Further prospective studies are warranted to investigate the effect of Hcy on CKD in patients with T2DM.