Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphism and pre-eclampsia.
A common missense mutation in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene, a C to T substitution at nucleotide 677, is responsible for reduced MTHFR activity and associated with modestly increased plasma homocysteine concentrations. Since underlying maternal vascular disease increases the risk of pre-eclampsia, we had the working hypothesis that pre-eclampsia patients would have an increased T677 allele frequency compared with controls. The MTHFR genotypes were determined in 67 pre-eclampsia patients, 98 normal pregnant women, and 260 healthy adults by the PCR/RFLP method. The T677 allele and the genotype homozygous for the T677 allele were significantly increased in the pre-eclamptic group compared with the controls (p < 0.02 and p < 0.004, respectively). The data indicate that the T677 variant of the MTHFR gene is one of the genetic risk factors for pre-eclampsia.
Sohda
S
S
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Arinami
T
T
Hamada
H
H
Yamada
N
N
Hamaguchi
H
H
Kubo
T
T
D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006720:Homozygote; D006801:Humans; D042965:Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2); D000587:Oxidoreductases Acting on CH-NH Group Donors / Q000235:genetics*; D017354:Point Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors
D000587:Oxidoreductases Acting on CH-NH Group Donors; D042965:Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2)