The influence of MTHFR C677T polymorphism in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

A strong association between VEGF-A rs28357093 and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a brazilian genetic study

BACKGROUND

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a rare neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons and promotes progressive muscle atrophy. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A) plays multiple roles in the central nervous systems (CNS). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) VEGF-A rs28357093 and ALS.

METHODS AND RESULTS

This case-control study was conducted in 101 ALS patients and 119 healthy individuals. Genotyping was performed by Polymerase Chain Reaction - Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The statistical analysis was carried out using the RStudio® and SNPStats© software's. Analysis of genetic inheritance models was performed by logistic regression. Our findings demonstrated a strong association between VEGF- A rs28357093 and ALS in all genetic inheritance models, with a 9-fold increased risk for A/C - C/C genotypes (95%CI = 3.70-21.88; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The mutant allele was more frequent in ALS patients (p < 0.001) and this finding could be associated with ALS risk. This first study from the Brazilian central population was conducted to provide new insight into the pathogenesis of ALS.

One-carbon metabolism pathway genes and their non-association with the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Although of unknown etiology, some mechanisms associated with the metabolic cycle of folate are speculated to be related to the genesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Thus, the aim of the study was to analyze the role of genetic polymorphisms rs1051266 in SLC19A1 gene and rs1805087 in MTR gene and their associations with ALS development. A case-control study was conducted with 101 individuals with ALS and 119 individuals without diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, from the Brazilian central population. The polymorphisms were determined using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique. The results showed no statistically significant differences, even when genotypes were analyzed by the dominant, recessive, codominant, and overdominant inheritance models. It was observed a statistical significance relating alcohol consumption with individuals in the case group (p = 0.01). Therefore, the need for more studies to evaluate the influence of genetic variants is highlighted, seeking to provide information on the etiopathogenesis of ALS.

Association of MTHFR C677T and A1298C Polymorphisms with Susceptibility to Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background:

The relation between methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase)MTHFR(polymorphisms and the risk of developing Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is not still clear, while there are reports about the association of MTHFR C677T and A1298C polymorphisms with developing CLL, there are other reports that rolled out the association of MTHFR polymorphisms with developing CLL. Therefore herein we carried out this meta-analysis to clear the association of MTHFR polymorphisms with the risk of CLL,

Methods:

A comprehensive search was performed through PubMed, Scopus and Embase from inception to Aug 2020. Odds ratios (OR) with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) for five possible genetic models were calculated. Heterogeneity was evaluated using the Cochran Q test and the I2 statistic.

Results:

Totals of 1290 cases and 1887 controls for the C677T polymorphism and 1117 cases and 1256 controls for the A1298C polymorphism were included in our analysis. Analyzing the MTHFR C677T and A1298C polymorphisms genotypes showed an association between MTHFR polymorphism at A1298C under Allelic model and the risk of CLL (OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.01–1.25), however there was no association between MTHFR polymorphism at MTHFR C677T and risk of CLL.

Conclusion:

The risk of developing CLL might be associated with MTHFR polymorphism at A1298C under allelic model and not associated with MTHFR polymorphisms at C677T, However, further studies considering other factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, gene-gene interaction and environmental condition are needed to clear the true association of MTHFR polymorphisms with CLL.

Clinical Relevance of +936 C>T VEGFA and c.233C>T bFGF Polymorphisms in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Angiogenesis process contributes to the pathogenesis of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) being the levels of VEGFA and bFGF higher in patients than in healthy controls. Our aim was to evaluate the implication of angiogenesis factors genetic variants in the predisposition to B-CLL and their association with clinical factors and survival. We performed a population-based case-control study in 224 Spanish B-CLL patients and 476 healthy randomly selected controls to evaluate susceptibility to developing B-CLL. Six polymorphisms were evaluated: rs1109324, rs1547651, rs3025039 (+936 C>T), rs833052 of the VEGFA gene, rs1449683 (c.233C>T) of the bFGF gene and (−710 C>T) of the VEGFR1 gene. The association between clinical parameters and patient outcome was analyzed. Carriers of the CT/TT variants of rs3025039 showed a significant protective effect against developing B-CLL. The CT/TT variants of rs1449683 show a tendency towards the development of the disease and the same variants associated significantly with higher genetic risk and with reduced disease free survival. Moreover, the association persisted in the early-stage disease subgroup. Our study provides evidence of the protective effect of the T/- rs3025039 VEGFA variant against B-CLL development and the association of CT/TT variants of the rs1449683 bFGF gene with genetic risk and an adverse survival.