title: Testing of variants of the MTHFR and ESR1 genes in 1798 Finnish individuals fails to confirm the association with migraine with aura.
abstract: Among the few independently replicated genetic associations in migraine are polymorphisms in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and oestrogen receptor (ESR1) genes. We studied the contribution of these genes to migraine susceptibility by genotyping six MTHFR and 26 ESR1 polymorphisms in 898 unrelated migraine with aura (MA) patients and in 900 unrelated healthy controls. There were no differences in the genotype distributions of the previously migraine-associated SNPs C677T (MTHFR) and G2014A (ESR1) between cases and controls (P-values 0.83 and 0.55, respectively). Thus, we were not able to replicate the previous findings, although our study had considerable power. However, five of the ESR1 SNPs (rs6557170, rs2347867, rs6557171, rs4870062 and rs1801132) that were in strong linkage disequilibrium were nominally associated with MA (uncorrected P-values 0.007-0.034). These results did not, however, remain significant after taking multiple testing into account. Thus it seems unlikely that the studied genes are involved in migraine susceptibility, at least in this sample.
authors.affiliation: Biomedicum Helsinki, Research Program in Molecular Medicine and Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Helsinki, 00029 HUS, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kaunisto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kallela
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hämäläinen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kilpikari
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Havanka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Harno
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nissilä
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Säkö
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ilmavirta
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liukkonen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Teirmaa
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Törnwall
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jussila
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Terwilliger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Färkkilä
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaprio
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palotie
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wessman
mesh_terms: D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008297:Male; D042965:Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2) / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020325:Migraine with Aura / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
chemical_list: D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; D042965:Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2)