Association study on MTHFR polymorphisms and meningioma in northern China.

BACKGROUND

Meningioma is the second most common primary tumor of the central nervous system, and multiple genetic and environmental factors contribute to its etiology. Methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a pivotal enzyme in folate metabolism. We conducted a case-control study to investigate the association of the MTHFR gene and meningioma in a Han population in northern China.

METHODS

We genotyped two SNPs (C677T and A1298C) using polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). In this study 317 meningioma patients were compared to 320 normal controls. Data were analyzed by SPSS 13.0 and HaploView software.

RESULTS

We found a significant difference in the frequency distribution of 677CC and 677TT between cases and control groups; another SNP exhibited no differences in any genotype between the two cohorts.

CONCLUSION

The results revealed that variations of the MTHFR gene were associated with meningioma; this finding indicates that the MTHFR gene potentially plays an important role in the pathogenesis of meningioma in the Northern Chinese Han population.