TY - JOUR
T1 - Association of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism and fracture risk in Chinese postmenopausal women
AU - Hong, Xiumei
AU - Hsu, Yi Hsiang
AU - Terwedow, Henry
AU - Tang, Genfu
AU - Liu, Xue
AU - Jiang, Shanqun
AU - Xu, Xin
AU - Xu, Xiping
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by NIH grant R01 AR045651 and R01 HL073882. We would like to thank the local Bureaus of Health of Dongzhi and Wangjang in Anhui Province, China for their support.
PY - 2007/3
Y1 - 2007/3
N2 - Osteoporotic fractures are a leading cause of disability and, indirectly, of death in the elderly population. Previous studies have shown that homocysteine level and the C677T polymorphism in the gene encoding methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) may be involved in the development of osteoporosis and its related fracture in European populations. The aim of this study was to verify the association of this polymorphism with bone mineral density (BMD) and fractures in our 1899 Chinese postmenopausal women. The C677T T allele frequency in this population was 39.2%. The distribution of the MTHFR genotypes followed the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. BMD at total body, total hip or femoral neck did not significantly vary with MTHFR C677T genotype. The T allele carrier tended to have higher risk of having osteoporosis or osteopenia, but the difference was statistically insignificant. However, Poisson regression analysis revealed that the T allele carriers had an increased risk of fractures (RR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.1-2.7, p = 0.01) which occurred before or after menopause. As far as fracture incidence after menopause was concerned, the CT or TT genotype had more than twice the risk of the CC genotype (RR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.2-4.9, p = 0.009). This association was independent of age, physical activity, occupation, passive smoking, height, weight, years since menopause, and total hip BMD. Our data show that the MTHFR C677T polymorphism is an independent predictor of fracture risk, although it only had a weak effect on BMD. Further study on the mechanistic role that this polymorphism plays in the development of fractures may lead to better understanding of the etiology of osteoporotic fracture.
AB - Osteoporotic fractures are a leading cause of disability and, indirectly, of death in the elderly population. Previous studies have shown that homocysteine level and the C677T polymorphism in the gene encoding methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) may be involved in the development of osteoporosis and its related fracture in European populations. The aim of this study was to verify the association of this polymorphism with bone mineral density (BMD) and fractures in our 1899 Chinese postmenopausal women. The C677T T allele frequency in this population was 39.2%. The distribution of the MTHFR genotypes followed the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. BMD at total body, total hip or femoral neck did not significantly vary with MTHFR C677T genotype. The T allele carrier tended to have higher risk of having osteoporosis or osteopenia, but the difference was statistically insignificant. However, Poisson regression analysis revealed that the T allele carriers had an increased risk of fractures (RR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.1-2.7, p = 0.01) which occurred before or after menopause. As far as fracture incidence after menopause was concerned, the CT or TT genotype had more than twice the risk of the CC genotype (RR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.2-4.9, p = 0.009). This association was independent of age, physical activity, occupation, passive smoking, height, weight, years since menopause, and total hip BMD. Our data show that the MTHFR C677T polymorphism is an independent predictor of fracture risk, although it only had a weak effect on BMD. Further study on the mechanistic role that this polymorphism plays in the development of fractures may lead to better understanding of the etiology of osteoporotic fracture.
KW - Fracture
KW - Genetics
KW - Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene
KW - Osteoporosis
KW - Postmenopausal women
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U2 - 10.1016/j.bone.2006.09.031
DO - 10.1016/j.bone.2006.09.031
M3 - Article
C2 - 17174622
AN - SCOPUS:33846577275
SN - 8756-3282
VL - 40
SP - 737
EP - 742
JO - Bone
JF - Bone
IS - 3
ER -