Model 6410

The patients were subjected to a health examination, including height and weight measurements and blood pressure. Blood was drawn from fasting subjects, and tubes with plasma containing EDTA were stored at –80℃ for biochemical analyses. Plasma Hcy was analyzed by HPLC (LC‐9A,Shimadzu Corp., Kyoto, Japan) with fluorescence detection (F‐1080, Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) 24. Serum folate concentration was measured using a dual count Solid Phase Boil Radioassay (Diagnostic Products, Los Angeles, CA). Serum Vit B12 was detected by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC‐MS/MS, Agilent Model 6410) 25. The blood glucose levels, including FPG(fasting plasma glucose) and G2h (postprandial 2 hours blood glucose) were measured using the hexokinase method; the total cholesterol (TC), high‐density lipoprotein (HDL), low‐density lipoprotein (LDH), triglyceride (TG), hemoglobin (HGB), blood uric acid (BUA), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), and blood creatinine (Cr) were measured with an autoanalyzer (Cobas c 501 autoanalyzer, Roche Diagnostics, Germany). C‐reactive protein (CRP) was measured using commercially available enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay kits (ELISA kits, Biosource, Int. CA). Standard quality control procedures were performed each day with standard samples (CV < 10%).