Associations of methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphism with hepatocellular carcinoma in Egyptian population

Abstract

Abstract Liver serves as a hub for key metabolic pathways such as folate cycle that provides one-carbon units for a network of metabolic reactions. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a rate limiting enzyme in folate metabolism and thus it is vital for DNA methylation, synthesis and repair [1]. The objective of this study was to evaluate an eventual association between MTHFR polymorphisms C677T (rs1801133) and A1298C (rs1801131) and the susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Egyptian population. Blood samples from patients and controls from Mansoura university hospital were used after signed consent and approval from Medical ethical committee. The two genetic loci were designed for amplification and genotyped by using PCR–RFLP. Our results clarify that, the most important predictors for HCC are T/T genotype of variant C677T and C/C genotype of variant (A1298C) with odds ratio 3.28 and 2.99 respectively. Also, MTHFR variant C677T genotype C/C or T/T combined with MTHFR variant A1298C genotype C/C were associated with an increased risk of HCC, with the OR, 2.6 and 7 respectively. CT genotype of MTHFR variant C677T showed significant difference between HCC grades and C allele of variant C677T showed significant difference in BCLC stages of HCC. Our data indicates that, the two variants (C677T and A1298C) constitute a risk factor for the development of HCC and this could be attributed to the low activities of the enzyme MTHFR that disturb one carbon metabolism and subsequently, DNA synthesis, repair and methylation, thus cellular redox state, growth, and proliferation.

Keywords

• MTHFR
• HCC
• Polymorphism
• MTHFR C677T
• MTHFR A1298C