Rs4846049 Polymorphism at the 3′-UTR of MTHFR Gene: Association with Susceptibility to Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence has suggested the polymorphisms of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) were associated with susceptibility to childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, the known conclusions of currently known polymorphic loci (677 C > T and 1298 A > C) remain controversial. This study was to investigate new genetic biomarkers for ALL by analyzing the MTHFR polymorphisms at the 3′-untranslated region, which is a location bound by miRNAs. METHODS: Polymorphisms of rs4846049 (miR-555 binding) were assessed by PCR amplification and direct sequencing in 110 ALL patients and 105 healthy controls. The relative expression of MTHFR was detected by qRT-PCR. RESULTS: Overall, genotype distribution or allele carrier frequencies were not significantly different between patients with ALL and healthy controls (P > 0.05). Subgroup analysis results showed that T allele (OR = 0.134, 95% CI = 0.028–0.639; P=0.005) or genotypes with T allele (TT + GT) (OR = 0.133, 95% CI: 0.024–0.727; P=0.017) may be a protective factor for ALL susceptibility in patients with age >8 years. This conclusion was also true for the group only focusing on the precursor B-cell ALL patients. Furthermore, karyotype abnormality was more commonly observed in patients with the GG genotype (56.0%) compared to carriers of TT (0%) or GT (40.6%) genotypes, while c-myc break frequency was significantly higher in TT carriers (33%) than that of patients with GT (3.1%) or GG (0%) genotypes. PCR analysis showed patients carrying the GG genotype of rs4846049 exhibited the reduced mRNA expression of MTHFR. CONCLUSION: MTHFR rs4846049 polymorphism may be associated with increased risk of childhood with ALL and MTHFR mRNA expression.