Association of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR 677C>T) and thymidylate synthase (TSER and TS 1494del6) polymorphisms with premature ovarian failure in Korean women.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of our study was to investigate whether methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene variant (MTHFR 677C>T) and thymidylate synthase (TS) gene variants (TS enhancer region [TSER] and TS 1494del6) confer a risk for premature ovarian failure (POF).


METHODS
We genotyped 136 POF patients and 236 controls among Korean women for the three single nucleotide polymorphism sites using polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Differences in the MTHFR 677C>T, TSER, and TS 1494del6 genotype frequencies between POF patients and controls were compared, and odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs were determined as a measure of the strength of the association between genotypes and POF.


RESULTS
The MTHFR 677CT and CT + TT variant genotypes were more frequent in POF patients than in controls (OR, 2.249; 95% CI, 1.317-3.843; and OR, 2.132; 95% CI, 1.268-3.585, respectively). The combined genotype frequencies of MTHFR 677CT + TT/TSER 3R3R and 677CT + TT/TS 1494del6 del6/del6 were higher in patients than in controls (OR, 2.300; 95% CI, 1.219-4.337; and OR, 3.314; 95% CI, 1.623-6.767, respectively). The T-3R-del6 and T-2R-del6 (MTHFR 677C>T/TSER/TS 1494del6) haplotypes were more frequent in patients (OR, 1.450; 95% CI, 1.050-2.002; and OR, 2.911; 95% CI, 1.191-7.117, respectively), whereas the C-2R-del6 haplotype was less frequent in patients (OR, 0.372; 95% CI, 0.152-0.912). The T-del6 (MTHFR 677/TS 1494del6) haplotype frequency was higher among patients (OR, 1.653; 95% CI, 1.206-2.266), whereas the C-del6 haplotype frequency was lower among patients (OR, 0.700; 95% CI, 0.516-0.950). We did not find an association between TSER or TS 1494del6 polymorphisms and POF.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that the MTHFR 677T allele may increase the risk for POF, which could lead to the development of novel genetic markers for predicting the risk of POF in patients.
Department of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science and Institute for Clinical Research, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, South Korea.
HyungChul
H
Rah
Young Joo
YJ
Jeon
Youngsok
Y
Choi
Sung Han
SH
Shim
Tae Ki
TK
Yoon
Dong Hee
DH
Choi
Sun Hee
SH
Cha
Nam Keun
NK
Kim
D000328:Adult; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D042965:Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2) / Q000235:genetics*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length / Q000235:genetics*; D016649:Primary Ovarian Insufficiency / Q000235:genetics*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D013940:Thymidylate Synthase / Q000235:genetics*
D042965:Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2); D013940:Thymidylate Synthase