Gene polymorphisms in the folate metabolic pathway and risk of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a case-control study in a Chinese population.

Polymorphisms in folate pathway genes may influence susceptibility to pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This case-control study was undertaken to analyze the association of genetic polymorphisms (677C>T and 1298A>C) of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and reduced folate carrier (RFC1) (80G>A) with the risk of pediatric ALL in China. A total of 176 pediatric ALL patients and 170 matched healthy subjects (as controls) were included and DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood. SNaPshot single nucleotide polymorphism typing was used to determine the genotypes of MTHFR 677C>T, MTHFR 1298A>C, and RFC1 80G>A. All statistical analyses were conducted with SAS software (version 9.2; SAS Institute). There were no significant differences in the genotype and allele frequencies of MTHFR 677C>T, MTHFR 1298A>C, or RFC1 80G>A between patients and controls. No significant correlation was found between the combined genotypes of these polymorphisms and the risk of developing ALL in this study. Furthermore, no significant differences were observed for 677C>T and 1298A>C frequencies between the control and case groups. There was no association between MTHFR 677C>T, MTHFR 1298A>C, or RFC1 80G>A gene polymorphisms and risk of pediatric ALL in the Han Chinese population. IJCEP