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Hereditary Cancer in Clinical Practice
Published in: Hereditary Cancer in Clinical Practice 1/2014

Open Access 01-12-2014 | Research

Plasma homocysteine levels and genetic polymorphisms in folate metablism are associated with breast cancer risk in chinese women

Authors: Xiayu Wu, Tianning Zou, Neng Cao, Juan Ni, Weijiang Xu, Tao Zhou, Xu Wang

Published in: Hereditary Cancer in Clinical Practice | Issue 1/2014

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Abstract

Background

Folate plays a pivotal role in DNA synthesis, repair, methylation and homocysteine (Hcy) metabolism. Therefore, alterations in the folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism may lead to abnormal methylation proliferation, increases of tumor/neoplasia and vein thrombosis/cardiovascular risk. The serine hydroxymethyhransferase (SHMT), methionine synthase (MS), methionine synthase reductase (MTRR) and cystathionine beta synthase (CBS) regulate key reactions in the folate and Hcy metabolism. Therefore, we investigated whether the genetic variants of the SHMT, MS, MTRR and CBS g ene can affect plasma Hcy levels and are associated with breast cancer risk.

Methods

Genotyping was performed by PCR-RFLP method. Plasma Hcy levels were measured by the fluorescence polarization immunoassay on samples of 96 cases and 85 controls.

Results

(a) The SHMT 1420 T, MS 2756G, MTRR 66G allele frequency distribution showed significant difference between case and controls (p < 0.01 ~ 0.05). (b) The concentration of plasma Hcy levels of SHMT 1420TT was significantly lower than that of the wild type, while the plasma Hcy levels of MS 2756GG, CBS 699TT/1080TT significantly higher than that of the wild type both in case and controls. The plasma Hcy levels of MTRR 66GG was significantly higher than that of wild type in cases. The plasma Hcy levels of the same genotype in cases were significantly higher than those of controls except SHMT 1420CC, MS 2756AA, MTRR 66GG; (c) Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that SHMT C1420T (OR = 0.527, 95% CI = 0.55 ~ 1.24), MS A2756G (OR = 2.32, 95% CI = 0.29 ~ 0.82), MTRR A66G (OR = 1.84, 95% CI = 0.25 ~ 1.66) polymorphism is significantly associated with breast cancer risk. And elevated plasma Hcy levels were significantly linked to increased risk of breast cancer (adjusted OR = 4.45, 95% CI = 1.89-6.24 for the highest tertile as compared with the lowest tertile).

Conclusions

The current study results seem to suggest a possibility that SHMT C1420T mutation may be negatively correlated with breast cancer susceptibility; while MS A2756G and MTRR A66G mutation may be positively associated with breast cancer risk. SHMT C1420T, MS A2756G, MTRR A66G, CBS C1080T, CBS C699T locus mutation may be factors affecting plasma levels of Hcy. The plasma Hcy levels could be metabolic risk factor for breast cancer risk to a certain extent.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Plasma homocysteine levels and genetic polymorphisms in folate metablism are associated with breast cancer risk in chinese women
Authors
Xiayu Wu
Tianning Zou
Neng Cao
Juan Ni
Weijiang Xu
Tao Zhou
Xu Wang
Publication date
01-12-2014
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Hereditary Cancer in Clinical Practice / Issue 1/2014
Electronic ISSN: 1897-4287
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1897-4287-12-2

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