BackgroundMethylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a key enzyme of folate metabolic pathway which catalyzes the irreversible conversion of 5, 10-methylenetetrahydrofolate to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. 5-methyltetrahydrofolate donates methyl group for the methylation of homocysteine to methionine. Several studies have investigated maternal MTHFR C677T polymorphism as a risk factor for DS, but the results were controversial and inconclusive. To come into a conclusive estimate, authors performed a meta-analysis.AimA meta-analysis of published case control studies was performed to investigate the association between maternal MTHFR C677T polymorphism and Down syndrome.MethodsPubMed, Google Scholar, Elsevier, Springer Link databases were searched to select the eligible case control studies using appropriate keywords. The pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95%confidence interval were calculated for risk assessment.ResultsThirty four studies with 3,098 DS case mothers and 4,852 control mothers were included in the present meta-analysis. The pooled OR was estimated under five genetic models and significant association was found between maternal MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism and Down syndrome under four genetic models except recessive model (for T vs. C, OR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.09–1.46, p = 0.001; for TT vs. CC, OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.13–1.97, p = 0.008; for CT vs. CC, OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.10–1.51, p = 0.001; for TT+CT vs. CC, OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.13–1.60, p = 0.0008; for TT vs. CT+CC, OR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.60–0.94, p = 0.01).ConclusionThe results of the present meta-analysis support that maternal MTHFR C677T polymorphism is a risk factor for DS- affected pregnancy.

Epidemiological studies have evaluated the association between maternal methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T, A1298C and methionine synthase reductase (MTRR) A66G polymorphisms and risk of neural tube defects (NTDs) in offspring. However, the results from the published studies on the association between these three polymorphisms and NTD risk are conflicting. To derive a clearer picture of association between these three maternal polymorphisms and risk of NTD, we performed meta-analysis. A comprehensive search was conducted to identify all case-control studies of maternal MTHFR and MTRR polymorphisms and NTD risk. We used odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the strength of the association. Overall, we found that maternal MTHFR C677T polymorphism (OR(TvsC) =1.20; 95% CI = 1.13-1.28) and MTRR A66G polymorphism (OR(GvsA) = 1.21; 95% CI = 0.98-1.49) were risk factors for producing offspring with NTD but maternal MTHFR A1298C polymorphism (OR(CvsA) = 0.91; 95% CI = 0.78-1.07) was not associated with NTD risk. However, in stratified analysis by geographical regions, we found that the maternal C677T polymorphism was significantly associated with the risk of NTD in Asian (OR(TvsC) = 1.43; 95% CI: 1.05-1.94), European (OR(TvsC) = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.04-1.24) and American (OR(TvsC) = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.13-1.41) populations. In conclusion, present meta-analysis supports that the maternal MTHFR C677T and MTRR A66G are polymorphisms contributory to risk for NTD.

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Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a key enzyme of folate pathway. Several polymorphisms were reported in gene but C677T polymorphism is most studied and it has been reported to be risk factor for several diseases/disorders. The present study was designed to explore the frequency of C677T polymorphism in North Indian healthy population. In addition to this a meta-analysis of published articles was also performed to estimate the global prevalence of C677T polymorphism. A total of 1000 unrelated healthy subjects were selected for C677T polymorphism analysis. Different databases were searched for eligible articles. Prevalence proportion with 95 % CI was used to determine global prevalence of T allele and TT genotype. Meta-analysis was performed by Open meta-analyst. In 1000 blood samples analyzed, the frequency of T allele and TT genotype was 11 and 1 % respectively. Results of the meta-analysis showed that the global prevalence of T allele and TT genotype were 24.0 % (95 % CI 21.7-26.5) and 7.7 % (95 % CI 6.5-8.9) respectively. In sub-group meta-analysis, the lowest frequency of T allele was found in Africans (10.3 %; 95 % CI 3.8-16.8), and highest in Europeans (34.1 %; 95 % CI 31.9-36.3). The frequency of T allele in the North India is 11 %. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the frequency of the T allele and the TT genotype of C677T is highest in the Caucasian population.

There are several evidences supporting the role of 5–10 methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene polymorphisms in breast cancer (BC). Case control association studies on breast cancer have been repeatedly performed over the last two decades, but results are inconsistent. We performed a meta-analysis to confirm the association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and BC risk.The articles were retrieved by searching the PubMed, Google Scholar, and Springer Link databases. Crude odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was used to assess the strength of association between C677T polymorphism and BC. Publication bias was assessed by Egger's and Begg-Mazumdar tests. Meta-analysis was performed with Open Meta Analyst.Total 75 studies with 31,315 cases and 35, 608 controls were found suitable for the inclusion in the present meta-analysis. The results of meta-analysis suggested that there were moderate significant association between C677T polymorphism and BC risk using overall comparisons in five genetic models (T vs. C: OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.03–1.13, p = < 0.001; TT + CT vs. CC: OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.02–1.09, p = < 0.001; TT vs. CC: OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.06–1.28, p = 0.001; CT vs. CC OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.01–1.08, p = 0.005; TT vs. CT + CC: OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.03–1.22, p = 0.005). In conclusion, results of present meta-analysis showed modest association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism with breast cancer in total studies. However, sub-group analysis results based on ethnicity showed strong significant association between TT genotype and breast cancer (TT vs. CC; OR°=°1.26; 95% CI: 1.06–1.51; p = 0.009) in Asian population but in Caucasian population such association was not observed (TT vs. CC; OR°=°1.08; 95% CI: 0.99–1.14; p = 0.05).