Genotyping 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase for patients with coronary artery disease in Southern Taiwan

Abstract

Hyperhomocysteinaemia has been identified as a risk factor for cerebrovascular, peripheral vascular and coronary heart disease (CAD). Individuals with homozygous MTHFR (5,10-Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase) mutation have significantly elevated plasma homocysteine levels. Two common mutations in MTHFR (MTHFR 677C→T and MTHFR 1298A→C) may represent an important genetic risk factor in vascular disease. The aim of this research was to investigate these two point mutations of MTHFR for CAD patients and non-CAD controls in Southern Taiwan by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. We found that the distribution of the homozygous mutation for MTHFR677 was higher in 54 CAD patients than in 55 non-CAD subjects (11.1% versus 3.6%, P = 0.275). On the other hand, the frequency of MTHFR 1298CC in CAD patients was similar to that of control subjects (P = 1.000). This may suggest there is a trend toward an increased risk of coronary heart disease for individuals that have a 677TT genotype in the Taiwanese population. Finally, the frequency of homozygosity for the two MTHFR common mutations was still low in CAD cases. There may not be an appreciable association of MTHFR mutation to cardiovascular disease in Taiwan. Perhaps a further study including assessment of plasma concentrations of homocysteine, folate and vitamin B12 would be needed to better clarify the relationship between MTHFR polymorphisms and the occurrence of vascular disease.