title: An epidemiologic study of mitochondrial membrane transporter protein gene polymorphism and risk factors for neural tube defects in Shanxi, China.
abstract: The present study involved a questionnaire survey of 156 mothers that gave birth to children with neural tube defects or had a history of pregnancy resulting in children with neural tube defects (case group) and 156 control mothers with concurrent healthy children (control group) as well as detection of mitochondrial membrane transporter protein gene [uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2)] polymorphism. The maternal UCP2 3' untranslated region (UTR) D/D genotype and D allele frequency were significantly higher in the case group compared with the control group (odds ratio (OR) 3.233; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.103-9.476; P = 0.040; OR: 3.484; 95% CI: for neural tube defects 2.109-5.753; P < 0.001). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis of risk factors for neural tube defects showed that a maternal UCP2 3' UTR D/D genotype was negatively interacted with the mothers' consumption of frequent fresh fruit and vegetables (S = 0.007), positively interacted with the mothers' frequency of germinated potato consumption (S = 2.15) and positively interacted with the mothers' body mass index (S = 3.50). These findings suggest that maternal UCP2 3' UTR gene polymorphism, pregnancy time, consumption of germinated potatoes and body mass index are associated with an increased risk for neural tube defects in children from mothers living in Shanxi province, China. Moreover, there is an apparent gene-environment interaction involved in the development of neural tube defects in offspring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, Shanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhizhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, Shanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, Shanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Tian'e
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Yangpu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200093, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical and Chemical Detection, Shanxi Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Taiyuan 030001, Shanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, Shanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Zhuhai Campus of Zunyi Medical College, Zhuhai 519041, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Peizhen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: genetic polymorphisms; interaction; neural tube defects; risk factors; uncoupling protein 2