Methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (MTHFD) enzyme polymorphism as a maternal risk factor for trisomy 21: a clinical study

J Med Life. 2010 Oct-Dec;3(4):454-7.

Abstract

Recent reports linking Down syndrome (DS) to maternal polymorphism at the methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (MTHFD) locus have generated a great interest among investigators in the field. In the current study, we examine one genetic polymorphism involved in homocysteine/folate pathway as a risk factor for DS in a Romanian urban-area women cohort. Our results show that the frequencies of MTHFD1 alleles, as well as the frequencies of MTHFD11958 genotypes (GG, GA, AA, GA+AA) do not correlate with DS pregnancies, demonstrating no difference between the case and control groups, as opposed to the findings of Scala et al. (2006) on an Italian cohort.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Down Syndrome / epidemiology*
  • Female
  • Gene Frequency
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease / epidemiology
  • Genotype
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Methylenetetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase (NADP) / genetics*
  • Minor Histocompatibility Antigens
  • Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length*
  • Pregnancy
  • Risk Factors
  • Romania / epidemiology
  • Urban Population / statistics & numerical data

Substances

  • Minor Histocompatibility Antigens
  • MTHFD1 protein, human
  • Methylenetetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase (NADP)