The relationship between methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism and diabetic retinopathy: A meta-analysis in multiethnic groups

Abstract

ABSTRACTBackground: Many studies have analyzed the association between methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism and diabetic retinopathy (DR), however, the results remained inconclusive. We therefore aim to address this association by performing a meta-analysis in multiethnic groups. Methods: Related studies were identified from PubMed and Chinese databases up to October 2016. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the associations.Results: A total of 20 studies including 1860 DR cases and 3646 controls were involved in this meta-analysis. In the overall population, we found that MTHFR C677T polymorphism was significantly associated with an increased risk of DR for each genetic model. In this meta-analysis stratified by ethnicity, significantly increased risk of DR with the MTHFR C677T variants was found in the Chinese, Japanese, and Turks populations.Conclusions: Our study suggested that the MTHFR C677T polymorphism may contribute to DR development in multiethnic groups. Studies with larger sample sizes and wider spectrum of populations are warranted to verify this finding.