title: Intergenotypic variation of Vitamin B12 and Folate in AD: In north indian population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Changes in lifestyle habits such as diet modification or supplementation have been indicated as probable protective factors for a number of chronic conditions including Alzheimer's disease (AD). With this background, we aim to hypothesize that whether C677T polymorphism of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene contributes towards the risk of developing AD and its association with vitamin B12 and folate levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case-control study comprising of total 200 subjects, within the age group of 50-85 years. Their blood samples were analyzed for serum folate, vitamin B12 levels, and MTHFR C677T polymorphism by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean plasma levels of vitamin B12 and folate were significantly lower in study group when compared to the control group (P < 0.001). Genotypic and allelic frequency of MTHFR gene in both groups was found to be significant (P < 0.05). The intergenotypic variations of vitamin B12 and folate were found to be significant (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We concluded that the subjects with homozygous mutated alleles are more prone to AD and also pointed out the influence of presence/absence of MTHFR T allelic variants on serum folate and vitamin B12 levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of NeurochemistryInstitute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, Dilshad Garden, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Neelam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chhillar
authors.affiliation: Department of NeurochemistryInstitute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, Dilshad Garden, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Neeraj Kumar
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Environmental Biochemistry Laboratory, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital University of Delhi, Dilshad Garden, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Basu Dev
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, Dilshad Garden, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Kiran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bala
authors.affiliation: Health Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Science, Defence Research and Development Organisation, Timarpur, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Mitra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Basu
authors.affiliation: Department of NeurochemistryInstitute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, Dilshad Garden, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Deepika
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sharma
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; folate; methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase; vitamin B12