BackgroundRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic chronic inflammatory disease that ultimately damages bone and cartilage of joints leading to disability. Genetic polymorphism in methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene has been identified as potential marker of susceptibility or disease severity in RA. Risk of RA is three times higher in women than men. Several cytokines and proteins play significant role in synovitis of RA patients. Osteopontin (OPN) is the pro-inflammatory cytokine reported to be associated with synovitis in RA, as it generates T-helper-1 (TH1)-mediated cellular immune response. ObjectiveTo study the impact of MTHFR gene polymorphism on the serum levels of OPN in RA patients and to investigate the cause of greater disease severity in women than men. Patients and methodsThe study included sixty RA patients (eleven men and forty-nine women) from different regions of Uttar Pradesh, North India. OPN was estimated by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and other serological parameters such as Serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), Serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), C-reactive protein (CRP), triglycerides (TGA), cholesterol, uric acid, albumin and total protein were estimated using commercially available kits. MTHFR A1298C and C677T polymorphism was genotyped using restriction fragment length polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction (RFLP-PCR) based assays. Disease activity score and health questionnaire was assessed in all patients. ResultsMean age of patients was 44.53 ± 1.59 in women and 46.27 ± 4.22 in men with greater duration of morning stiffness in women than men. There were differences in TJC, SJC and DAS-28 score between men and women. OPN levels were found significantly higher in women than men. Other serological parameters were insignificantly higher in women than men. Genotypic study revealed that MTHFR genotypes are not associated with serum OPN levels. However, the disease activity scores (DAS-28), total joint count (TJC) and swollen joint count (SJC) were significantly associated with 1298CC genotype. Frequency distribution of MTHFR gene between men and women indicates that 1298CC genotype was more frequent in women than men and hence it might be one of the factors to cause disease severity more in women than men. ConclusionA1298C polymorphism is a predictor to the disease severity in RA patients. Patients with homozygous mutant CC genotype have a higher DAS-28 score along with TJC and SJC. The significantly higher OPN levels in female subjects suggest that disease severity is more in women than men. However, other parameters such as SGOT, SGPT, CRP, TGA, creatinine, uric acid, albumin and total protein were higher in women but the change was insignificant.