MTHFR (677 and 1298) and IL-6-174 G/C genes in pathogenesis of Alzheimer's and vascular dementia and their epistatic interaction.

Genetic risk factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD). In this case-control study, we examined C677T and A1298C (rs1801133 and rs1801131) polymorphism in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genes and their correlation with plasma levels of homocysteine (Hcy) in AD and VaD cases and evaluated the gene-gene interaction (epistasis) with IL-6-174 G/C (rs1800795). CC genotype was associated with elevated levels of plasma homocysteine (p = 0.004) as compared with genotype AA of rs1801131. In AD, we observed a significant (p = 0.04) association with C alleles of rs1801131. Regression analysis revealed that the presence of both rs1801133 T and rs1800795 C alleles increased the odds of developing AD by 2.5 and VaD by 3.7-fold. While rs1800795 (CC or GC) genotypes alone increased the odds of developing VaD by 2.2-fold, the presence of CC genotype of rs1801131 nullified this effect. The findings support the hypothesis that multiple genes are involved to alter the odds of developing AD and VaD.