No association between MTHFR gene polymorphism and diabetic nephropathy in Japanese type II diabetic patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

The development of diabetic nephropathy shows marked variation among individuals. Not only hyperglycemia, but also genetic factors may contribute to the development of diabetic nephropathy. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is involved in remethylation of homocysteine to methionine. Decreased activity of MTHFR which can result in hyperhomocysteinemia may lead to cerebrovascular disease and coronary artery disease. Recently, a common C to T mutation at nucleotide position 677 of the MTHFR gene (MTHFR677CT) has been reported to be correlated with hyperhomocysteinemia and the severity of coronary artery disease as macroangiopathy. In the present study, we recruited 173 of Japanese type II diabetic patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy who would be exposed to long-term hyperglycemia, and examined the contribution of the MTHFR gene polymorphism to the development of diabetic nephropathy as microangiopathy. The frequency of the mutated allele was 43.3% in patients with nephropathy (n = 105) versus 41.9% in those without nephropathy (n = 68). The genotype frequencies were +/+, 16.2%; +/-, 54.3%; -/-, 29.5% in patients with nephropathy versus +/+, 13.2%; +/-, 57.4%; -/-, 29.4% in those without nephropathy (+ indicates the presence of the mutation). The MTHFR genotype and allele frequencies were not significantly different between patients with and without nephropathy. Therefore, we conclude that the MTHFR gene polymorphism is not associated with the development of diabetic nephropathy in Japanese type II diabetic patients.