Dalia Ahmed*
Background: Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) is a regularly enzyme of homocysteine metabolism. Point mutation in MTHFR and hyperhomocyteinemia are implicated in the pathogenesis of Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) in many ethnic groups. The aim of this study is to find if MTHFR C677T polymorphism is a risk factor of DN in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients.
Subjects and methods: The MTHFR C677T polymorphism was detected in 122 T2DM patients by PCR-RFLP. They were divided into 3 groups; 75 patients with normoalbuminuria. 33 patients with microalbuminuria and 14 patients with macroalbuminuria. Seum levels of Homocysteine (HCY) were determined by nephelometry.
Results: Presence of MTHFR C677T allele increase the risk of macroalbuminuria 2.6 folds (p=0.009) in T2DM patients. The presence of mutant genotypes CT and TT increase the risk of macroalbuminuria 3.7 folds (p=0.002). Serum levels of Homocysteine (HCY) were not associated with C677T mutation (p=0.22), also there was no significant association between high levels of Homocysteine (HCY) and Diabetic Nephropathy DN (p=0.05).
Conclusion: MTHFR C677T gene mutation was associated with increased risk for overt Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) in type2 diabetic patients and had no effect on serum levels of homocysteine.