normal range of total plasma homocysteine concentrations in southern iran

the distribution of total plasma homocysteine concentrations in relation to the sex and age is described, in a population of shiraz, south west of iran and compared to those reported in other populations.  two hundred and one healthy males and 201 healthy females aged >15 y were randomly selected.  total plasma homocysteine concentrations were measured using high performance liquid chromatography.  the mean plasma homocysteine level was significantly higher in men (geometric mean 7.3 µ mol/l) than in women (geometric mean 6.3 µ mol/l, p<0.001).  the geometric meanlev el s for age ranges 15-25, 26-36 , 37-47 , 48-58, 59-69 and 70-80 years , were 5.9 , 5.4 , 5.2 , 6.7, 7.3 and 7.6 µ mol/l in women and 7.5 , 8.7 , 5.9 , 5.9, 7.2 and 9.1 µ mol/l in men respectively.  the first data on homocysteine distribution ina representative sample from south west of iran indicate that the ethnic differences have an important impact on homocysteine metabolism.