Objective: To observe the concentration of se-rum homocysteine in intellectuals and the re-lated influential factors. Methods: The concen-trations serum homocysteine and saliva cortisol were measured in 138 intellectuals from three cities, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Chengdu in China. All the subjects had senior titles of tech-nical post, aged 40-69 years. Results: The mean value of serum homocysteine concentration in intellectuals was 20.6±0.8μmol/L, higher than the reference value. With the increase of cortisol levels the homocysteine concentrations rise (P <0.05). The mean value of homocysteine con-centration was highest in 40-49 years old group. Men had higher homocysteine level than women in this investigation. According to the mean value of homocysteine concentration among different cities, Tianjin was highest, Chengdu medium, Guangzhou lowest. Conclusion: The serum homocysteine concentration of intellec-tuals is higher than the reference value. The stress level, gender and resident cities might contribute to the differences in serum homo-cysteine concentration in Chinese intellectuals.
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