Homoarginine and mortality in an older population: the Hoorn study

Background Homoarginine is an amino acid that may be involved in nitric oxide and energy metabolism. Previous studies in patient populations showed that low homoarginine levels indicate an increased risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease. We evaluated whether low plasma levels of homoarginine are associated with elevated, overall and cause‐specific mortality. Materials and methods The Hoorn study is a population‐based study among older men and women. We calculated Cox proportional hazard ratios (HRs) for overall and cause‐specific mortality according to sex‐specific homoarginine quartiles. Results We included 606 study participants (51·3% women; 70·0 ± 6·6 years). Homoarginine concentrations were higher in men (1·63 ± 0·51 μM), compared with women (1·30 ± 0·44 μM; P