Abstract: Objective To investigate the relationship between serum homocysteine and post-stroke depression in elderly. Methods 62 elderly first stroke patients with post-stroke depression, 20 first stroke patients without depression, and 100 healthy elderly as control were detected their fasting serum homocysteine with fluorescence polarization immunoassay. Results Serum homocysteine were (25.59±9.47) μmol/ L, (18.56±7.84) μmol/L, and (12.67±6.45) μmol/L in the depression group, non depression group and healthy group, respectively (P<0.05). The level of homocysteine correlated with the score of Hamilton Depression Scale (r=0.8953, P<0.05) and age (r=0.8462, P<0.05). Conclusion The level of serum homocyteine might be one of risk factor of depression in patients with stroke.

Key words: post-stroke depression, elderly, homocysteine