Increased MTHFR promoter methylation in mothers of Down syndrome individuals

Publication date: Available online 22 February 2016 Source:Mutation Research/Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis Author(s): Fabio Coppedè, Maria Denaro, Pierpaola Tannorella, Lucia Migliore Despite that advanced maternal age at conception represents the major risk factor for the birth of a child with Down syndrome (DS), most of DS babies are born from women aging less than 35 years. Studies performed in peripheral lymphocytes of those women revealed several markers of global genome instability, including an increased frequency of micronuclei, shorter telomeres and impaired global DNA methylation. Furthermore, young mothers of DS individuals (MDS) are at increased risk to develop dementia later in life, suggesting that they might be “biologically older” than mothers of euploid babies of similar age. Mutations in folate pathway genes, and particularly in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) one, have been often associated with maternal risk for a DS birth as well as with risk of dementia in the elderly. Recent studies pointed out that also changes in MTHFR methylation levels can contribute to human disease, but nothing is known about MTHFR methylation in MDS tissues. We investigated MTHFR promoter methylation in DNA extracted from perypheral lymphocytes of 40 MDS and 44 matched control women that coinceived their children before 35 years of age, observing a significantly increased MTHFR promoter methylation in the first group (33.3±8...

Source: Mutation Research Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis - February 23, 2016 Category: Cytology Source Type: research