Abstract
Previous studies examining the possible role of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphisms in the development of schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BPD) have provided inconclusive findings, this meta-analysis was therefore designed to get a more reliable assessment. A total of 38 articles were identified through a search of electronic databases, up to 27 February 2014. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence interval (CIs) were calculated using random effects models. Meta-analysis showed that MTHFR C677T was significantly associated with SZ, the highest OR was found for the recessive model (for TT vs. CT + CC: OR = 1.34, 95 % CI: 1.18–1.53); a marginal association of MTHFR C677T with increased risk of BPD has also been found for the recessive model (OR = 1.26, 95 % CI: 1.00–1.59). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity indicated that the significant association with SZ and BPD existed among Asian and African populations, but not for the white. MTHFR A1298C was significant associated with SZ, the highest OR for the dominant model (OR = 1.13, 95 % CI: 1.03–1.24). Subgroup analysis indicated a significant association with SZ existed in Asian populations, not among the white populations and no significant association was detected between the MTHFR A1298C and BPD in all groups. We conclude that MTHFR polymorphism is associated with SZ and BPD among Asian, African populations, but not the white.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00702-014-1261-8/MediaObjects/702_2014_1261_Fig1_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00702-014-1261-8/MediaObjects/702_2014_1261_Fig2_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00702-014-1261-8/MediaObjects/702_2014_1261_Fig3_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00702-014-1261-8/MediaObjects/702_2014_1261_Fig4_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00702-014-1261-8/MediaObjects/702_2014_1261_Fig5_HTML.gif)
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ades AE, Lu G, Higgins JP (2005) The interpretation of random-effects meta-analysis in decision models. Med Decis Making 25:646–654
Angst J, Gamma A, Lewinsohn P (2002) The evolving epidemiology of bipolar disorder. World Psychiatry 1:146–148
Arinami T, Yamada N, Yamakawa-Kobayashi K, Hamaguchi H, Toru M (1997) Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase variant and schizophrenia/depression. Am J Med Genet 74:526–528
Arzaghi SM, Hossein-Nezhad A, Shariat SV, Ghodsipour A, Shams J, Larijani B (2011) C677T Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) Gene Polymorphism in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder: an Association Study in Iranian Population. Iran J Psychiatry 6:1–6
Betcheva ET, Mushiroda T, Takahashi A, Kubo M, Karachanak SK et al (2009) Case-control association study of 59 candidate genes reveals the DRD2 SNP rs6277 (C957T) as the only susceptibility factor for schizophrenia in the Bulgarian population. J Hum Genet 54:98–107
Bouaziz N, Ayedi I, Sidhom O, Kallel A, Rafrafi R, Zaharieva IT, Vazharova RV, Dimova II, Milanova VK, Tolev T, Kirov G, Owen MJ, O’Donovan MC, Kamatani N, Nakamura Y, Toncheva DI (2010) Plasma homocysteine in schizophrenia: determinants and clinical correlations in Tunisian patients free from antipsychotics. Psychiatry Res 179:24–29
Chen Z, Liu Y, Zhang D, Liu Z, Wang P, Zhou D, Zhao T, Wang T, Xu H, Li S, Feng G, He L, Yu L (2009) C677T methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphisms in bipolar disorder: an association study in the Chinese population and a meta-analysis of genetic association studies. Neurosci Lett 449:48–51
Cohen-Woods S, Craig I, Gaysina D, Gray J, Gunasinghe C, Craddock N (2010) The Bipolar Association Case-Control Study (BACCS) and meta-analysis: no association with the 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene and bipolar disorder. Am J Med Genet Part B Neuropsychiatr Genet 153B:1298–1304
del Rio GC, Torres-Sánchez L, Chen J, Schnaas L, Hernández C, Osorio E, Portillo MG, Lopez-Carrillo L (2009) Maternal MTHFR 677C > T genotype and dietary intake of folate and vitamin B(12): their impact on child neurodevelopment. Nutr Neurosci 12:13–20
DerSimonian R, Laird N (1986) Meta-analysis in clinical trials. Control Clin Trials 7:177–188
Dror DK, Allen LH (2008) Effect of vitamin B12 deficiency on neurodevelopment in infants: current knowledge and possible mechanisms. Nutr Rev 66:250–255
Egger M, Smith GD, Schneider M, Minder C (1997) Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test. BMJ 315:629–634
El-Hadidy MA, Abdeen HM, El-Aziz SMA, Al-Harrass M (2013) C677T Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphism in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Psychiatric Genetics (Epub ahead of print)
Ezzaher A, Mouhamed DH, Mechri A, Omezzine A, Neffati F, Douki W, Bouslama A, Gaha L, Najjar MF (2011) Hyperhomocysteinemia in Tunisian bipolar I patients. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 65:664–671
Feng LG, Song ZW, **n F, Hu J (2009) Association of plasma homocysteine and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T gene variant with schizophrenia: a Chinese Han population-based case-control study. Psychiatry Res 168:205–208
Fleiss JL, Gross AJ (1991) Meta-analysis in epidemiology, with special reference to studies of the association between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and lung cancer: a critique. J Clin Epidemiol 44:127–139
Frankenburg FR (2007) The role of one-carbon metabolism in schizophrenia and depression. Harv Rev Psychiatry 15:146–160
Frosst P, Blom HJ, Milos R, Goyette P, Sheppard CA, Matthews RG, Boers GJ, den Heijer M, Kluijtmans LA, van den Heuvel LP, Rozen R (1995) A candidate genetic risk factor for vascular disease: a common mutation in methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. Nat Genet 10:111–113
Garcia-Miss Mdel R, Perez-Mutul J, Lopez-Canul B, Solis-Rodriguez F, Puga-Machado L, Oxte-Cabrera A, Gurubel-Maldonado J, Arankowsky-Sandoval G (2010) Folate, homocysteine, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha levels, but not the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism, are risk factors for schizophrenia. J Psychiatr Res 44:441–446
Gilbody S, Lewis S, Lightfoot T (2007) Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genetic polymorphisms and psychiatric disorders: a HuGE review. Am J Epidemiol 165:1–13
Goyette P, Pai A, Milos R, Frosst P, Tran P, Chen Z, Chan M, Rozen R (1998) Gene structure of human and mouse methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). Mamm Genome 9:652–656
Higgins JP, Thompson SG (2002) Quantifying heterogeneity in a meta-analysis. Stat Med 21:1539–1558
Jonsson EG, Larsson K, Vares M, Hansen T, Wang AG, Djurovic S, Rønningen KS, Andreassen OA, Agartz I, Werge T, Terenius L, Hall H (2008) Two methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene (MTHFR) polymorphisms, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: an association study. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 147B:976–982
Joober R, Benkelfat C, Lal S, Bloom D, Labelle A, Lalonde P, Turecki G, Rozen R, Rouleau GA (2000) Association between the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase 677C– > T missense mutation and schizophrenia. Mol Psychiatry 5:323–326
Kang HJ, Choe BM, Kim SH, Son S, Lee K, Kim BG, Hong Y (2010) No association between functional polymorphisms in COMT and MTHFR and schizophrenia risk in Korean population. Epidemiol Health 32:1–7
Kempisty B, Mostowska A, Gorska I, Luczak M, Czerski P, Szczepankiewicz A, Hauser J, Jagodziński PP (2006) Association of 677C > T polymorphism of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Neurosci Lett 400:267–271
Kempisty B, Bober A, Łuczak M, Czerski P, Szczepankiewicz A, Hauser J, Jagodzinski PP (2007) Distribution of 1298A > C polymorphism of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene in patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Eur Psychiatry 22:39–43
Kim SG, Song JY, Joo EJ, Jeong SH, Kim SH, Lee KY, Lee NY, Ahn YM, Kim YS, Roh MS (2011) No association of functional polymorphisms in methlylenetetrahydrofolate reductase and the risk and minor physical anomalies of schizophrenia in Korean population. J Korean Med Sci 26:1356–1363
Kontis D, Theochari E, Fryssira H, Kleisas S, Sofocleous C, Andreopoulou A, Kalogerakou S, Gazi A, Boniatsi L, Chaidemenos A, Tsaltas E (2013) COMT and MTHFR polymorphisms interaction on cognition in schizophrenia: an exploratory study. Neurosci Lett 537:17–22
Krebs MO, Bellon A, Mainguy G, Jay TM, Frieling H (2009) One-carbon metabolism and schizophrenia: current challenges and future directions. Trends Mol Med 15:562–570
Kunugi H, Fukuda R, Hattori M, Kato T, Tatsumi M, Sakai T, Hirose T, Nanko S (1998) C677T polymorphism in methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene and psychoses. Mol Psychiatry 3:435–437
Lee YS, Han DH, Jeon CM, Lyoo IK, Na C, Chae SL, Cho SC (2006) Serum homocysteine, folate level and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase 677, 1298 gene polymorphism in Korean schizophrenic patients. Neuroreport 17:743–746
Muntjewerff JW, Ophoff RA, Buizer-Voskamp JE, Strengman E, den Heijer M, GROUP Consortium (2011) Effects of season of birth and a common MTHFR gene variant on the risk of schizophrenia. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 21:300–305
Muntjewerff JW, Gellekink H, den Heijer M, Hoogendoorn ML, Kahn RS, Sinke RJ, Blom HJ (2008) Polymorphisms in catechol-O-methyltransferase and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase in relation to the risk of schizophrenia. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 18:99–106
Nishi A, Numata S, Tajima A, Kinoshita M, Kikuchi K, Shimodera S, Tomotake M, Ohi K, Hashimoto R, Imoto I, Takeda M, Ohmori T (2014) Meta-analyses of blood homocysteine levels for gender and genetic association studies of the MTHFR C677T polymorphism in schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull [Epub ahead of print]
Ozbek Z, Kucukali CI, Ozkok E, Orhan N, Aydin M, Kilic G, Sazci A, Kara I (2008) Effect of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphisms on homocysteine, folate and vitamin B12 in patients with bipolar disorder and relatives. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 32:1331–1337
Peerbooms OL, van Os J, Drukker M, Kenis G, Hoogveld L, MTHFR in Psychiatry Group, de Hert M, Delespaul P, van Winkel R, Rutten BP (2011) Meta-analysis of MTHFR gene variants in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and unipolar depressive disorder: evidence for a common genetic vulnerability? Brain Behav Immun 25:1530–1543
Philibert R, Gunter T, Hollenbeck N, Adams WJ, Bohle P, Packer H, Sandhu H (2006) No association of the C677T methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphism with schizophrenia. Psychiatr Genet 16:221–223
Purcell SM, Wray NR, Stone JL, Visscher PM, O’Donovan MC, Sullivan PF, Sklar P (2009) Common polygenic variation contributes to risk of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Nature 460:748–752
Rai V (2011) Evaluation of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene variant (C677T) as risk factor for bipolar disorder. Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand) 57(Suppl):Ol1558–Ol1566
Reif A, Pfuhlmann B, Lesch KP (2005) Homocysteinemia as well as methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphism are associated with affective psychoses. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 29:1162–1168
Roffman JL, Gollub RL, Calhoun VD, Wassink TH, Weiss AP, Ho BC, White T, Clark VP, Fries J, Andreasen NC, Goff DC, Manoach DS (2008) MTHFR 677C > T genotype disrupts prefrontal function in schizophrenia through an interaction with COMT 158Val – > Met. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:17573–17578
Saetre P, Vares M, Werge T, Andreassen OA, Arinami T, Ishiguro H, Nanko S, Tan EC, Han DH, Roffman JL, Muntjewerff JW, Jagodzinski PP, Kempisty B, Hauser J, Vilella E, Betcheva E, Nakamura Y, Regland B, Agartz I, Hall H, Terenius L, Jönsson EG (2011) Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T and A1298C polymorphisms and age of onset in schizophrenia: a combined analysis of independent samples. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 156:215–224
Saha S, Chant D, Welham J, McGrath J (2005) A systematic review of the prevalence of schizophrenia. PLoS Med 2:413–433
Sazci A, Ergül E, Güzelhan Y, Kaya G, Kara I (2003) Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphisms in patients with schizophrenia. Mol Brain Res 117:104–107
Sazci A, Ergul E, Kucukali I, Kara I, Kaya G (2005) Association of the C677T and A1298C polymorphisms of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene with schizophrenia: association is significant in men but not in women. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 29:1113–1123
Sugden C (2006) One-carbon metabolism in psychiatric illness. Nutr Res Rev 19:117–136
Tan EC, Chong SA, Lim LC, Chan AO, Teo YY, Tan CH, Mahendran R (2004) Genetic analysis of the thermolabile methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase variant in schizophrenia and mood disorders. Psychiatr Genet 14:227–231
Tsuang M (2000) Schizophrenia: genes and environment. Biol Psychiatry 47:210–220
Tsutsumi A, Glatt SJ, Kanazawa T, Kawashige S, Uenishi H, Hokyo A, Kaneko T, Moritani M, Kikuyama H, Koh J, Matsumura H, Yoneda H (2011) The genetic validation of heterogeneity in schizophrenia. Behav Brain Funct 7:43
van der Put NM, Gabreels F, Stevens EM, Smeitink JA, Trijbels FJ, Eskes TK, van den Heuvel LP, Blom HJ (1998) A second common mutation in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene: an additional risk factor for neural-tube defects? Am J Hum Genet 62:1044–1051
van der Put NM, van Straaten HW, Trijbels FJ, Blom HJ (2001) Folate, homocysteine and neural tube defects: an overview. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 226:243–270
Vilella E, Virgos C, Murphy M, Martorell L, Valero J, Simo JM, Joven J, Fernández-Ballart J, Labad A (2005) Further evidence that hyperhomocysteinemia and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T and A1289C polymorphisms are not risk factors for schizophrenia. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 29:1169–1174
Virgos C, Martorell L, Simo JM, Valero J, Figuera L, Joven J, Labad A, Vilella E (1999) Plasma homocysteine and the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T gene variant: lack of association with schizophrenia. Neuroreport 10:2035–2038
Wu YL, Ding XX, Sun YH, Yang HY, Chen J, Zhao X, Jiang YH, Lv XL, Wu ZQ (2013) Association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and depression: an updated meta-analysis of 26 studies. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 46:78–85
Yang DY, Lu XB, Li YH, Tong ZS, Fu Y, Yang MX, Huang P (2007) The association between MTHFR and Blood Homocysteine Levels in first-episode schizophrenia. Chin J Behav Med Sci 16:901–902 (Chinese)
Yang Z, Zhang XF, Liu HX, Hao YS, Zhao CL (2012) MTHFR C677T polymorphism and colorectal cancer risk in Asians, a meta-analysis of 21 studies. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 13:1203–1211
Ye XM, Zhang X, Wang HL (2010) Association between the MTHFR gene polymorphisms and schizophrenia. Hei Long Jiang Medial Joural 34:641–645 (Chinese)
Yu L, Li T, Robertson Z, Dean J, Gu NF, Feng GY, Yates P, Sinclair M, Crombie C, Collier DA, Walker N, He L, Clair D (2004) No association between polymorphisms of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene and schizophrenia in both Chinese and Scottish populations. Mol Psychiatry 9:1063–1065
Zeisel SH (2009) Importance of methyl donors during reproduction. Am J Clin Nutr 89:673s–677s
Zhang HY, Luo GA, Liang QL, Wang Y, Yang HH, Wang YM, Zheng XY, Song XM, Chen G, Zhang T, Wu JX (2008) Neural tube defects and disturbed maternal folate- and homocysteine-mediated one-carbon metabolism. Exp Neurol 212:515–521
Zhang C, **e B, Du Y, Cheng W, Fang Y, Yu S (2010) Further evidence that methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase A1298C polymorphism is a risk factor for schizophrenia. J Neural Transm 117:1115–1117
Zhang X, Liu TB, Yang YY, Deng XM, Yan XH, Yang KJ, Rong H (2012) Association between the MTHFR gene polymorphisms and refractory schizophrenia. J Clin Psychiatry 22:293–297 (Chinese)
Zhang Y, Yan H, Tian L, Wang F, Lu T, Wang L, Yan J, Liu Q, Kang L, Ruan Y, Zhang D, Yue W (2013) Association of MTHFR C677T polymorphism with schizophrenia and its effect on episodic memory and gray matter density in patients. Behav Brain Res 243:146–152
Zhao GQ, Jiao ZA, Wang SM, Liu ZX, Shi H (2008) Association between the 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphisms and plasma homocysteine levels in bipolar disorder. J Psychiatry 21:130–132 (Chinese)
Zintzaras E (2006) C677T and A1298C methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphisms in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression: a meta-analysis of genetic association studies. Psychiatr Genet 16:105–115
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81172763).
Conflict of interest
None.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
C.-Y. Hu and Z.-Z. Qian contributed equally to this work
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hu, CY., Qian, ZZ., Gong, FF. et al. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphism susceptibility to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: an updated meta-analysis. J Neural Transm 122, 307–320 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-014-1261-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-014-1261-8