Associations between Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) Polymorphisms and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) Risk: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: C677T and A1298C are the most common allelic variants of Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) gene. The association between MTHFR polymorphisms and the occurrence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remains controversial. This study was thus performed to examine whether MTHFR mutations are associated with the susceptibility to NAFLD. METHODS: A first meta-analysis on the association between the MTHFR polymorphisms and NAFLD risks was carried out via Review Manager 5.0 and Stata/SE 12.0 software. The on-line databases, such as PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, WOS, Scopus and EBSCOhost (updated to April 1(st), 2016), were searched for eligible case-control studies. The odd radio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI) and P value were calculated through Mantel-Haenszel statistics under random- or fixed-effect model. RESULTS: Eight articles (785 cases and 1188 controls) contributed data to the current meta-analysis. For C677T, increased NAFLD risks were observed in case group under homozygote model (T/T vs C/C, OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.03~2.15, P = 0.04) and recessive model (T/T vs C/C+C/T, OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.07~1.88, P = 0.02), but not the other genetics models, compared with control group. For A1298C, significantly increased NAFLD risks were detected in allele model (C vs A, OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.13~2.07, P = 0.006), homozygote model (C/C vs A/A, OR = 2.81, 95% CI = 1.63~4.85, P = 0.0002), dominant model (A/C+C/C vs A/A, OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.06~2.41, P = 0.03) and recessive model (C/C vs A/A+A/C, OR = 2.08, 95% CI = 1.45~3.00, P<0.0001), but not heterozygote model. CONCLUSION: T/T genotype of MTHFR C677T polymorphism and C/C genotype of MTHFR A1298C are more likely to be associated with the susceptibility to NAFLD.