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Original Research Communications |
1 From the Food and Drug Administration–National Center for Toxicological Research, the Division of Biochemical Toxicology, Jefferson, AR; the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Department of Dietetics and Nutrition, Little Rock; the Arkansas Children's Hospital, the Division of Pediatric Genetics, Little Rock; Trisomy-21 Research, Inc, San Jose, CA; the Saginaw Valley State University, the Department of Chemistry, University Center, MI; and the Institute for Environmental Studies and Institute for Mutagenesis, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.
Background: Down syndrome, or trisomy 21, is a complex genetic disease resulting from the presence of 3 copies of chromosome 21. The origin of the extra chromosome is maternal in 95% of cases and is due to the failure of normal chromosomal segregation during meiosis. Although advanced maternal age is a major risk factor for trisomy 21, most children with Down syndrome are born to mothers <30 y of age.
Objective: On the basis of evidence that abnormal folate and methyl metabolism can lead to DNA hypomethylation and abnormal chromosomal segregation, we hypothesized that the C-to-T substitution at nucleotide 677 (677C
T) mutation of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene may be a risk factor for maternal meiotic nondisjunction and Down syndrome in young mothers.
Design: The frequency of the MTHFR 677CT mutation was evaluated in 57 mothers of children with Down syndrome and in 50 age-matched control mothers. Ratios of plasma homocysteine to methionine and lymphocyte methotrexate cytotoxicity were measured as indicators of functional folate status.
Results: A significant increase in plasma homocysteine concentrations and lymphocyte methotrexate cytotoxicity was observed in the mothers of children with Down syndrome, consistent with abnormal folate and methyl metabolism. Mothers with the 677CT mutation had a 2.6-fold higher risk of having a child with Down syndrome than did mothers without the T substitution (odds ratio: 2.6; 95% CI: 1.2, 5.8; P < 0.03).
Conclusion: The results of this initial study indicate that folate metabolism is abnormal in mothers of children with Down syndrome and that this may be explained, in part, by a mutation in the MTHFR gene.
Key Words: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase • Down syndrome • folate • homocysteine • mutation • DNA methylation • MTHFR 677CT mutation • trisomy 21
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