Miscarriage Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Miscarriage, including details on signs, symptoms, recurrent, pregnancy.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism and the risk of unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss: a meta-analysis.

Ren A, Wang J

Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China. renag@sohu.com <renag@sohu.com>

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism and the risk of unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (URPL). DESIGN: Meta-analysis of published case-control studies of the MTHFR C677T variant and URPL risk. SETTING: A research institution in China. PATIENT(S): Women with URPL. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for TT versus CC genotype, CT versus CC genotype, TT versus CT and CC genotype combined, and for T versus C allele. RESULT(S): Twenty-six studies with 2120 URPL cases and 2949 controls were included. Overall random-effects ORs of 1.49 (95% CI, 1.12-2.00) for TT versus CC genotype, 1.40 (95% CI, 1.11-1.77) for TT versus CT and CC genotype combined, and 1.21 (95%CI, 1.04-1.40) for T versus C allele were found. Stratified analysis showed that significant strong associations between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and URPL were present only in the five Chinese studies (OR = 2.96 for TT versus CC genotype; OR = 2.30 for TT versus CT+CC genotype; OR = 1.73 for T versus C allele), but not in any other studies, including the studies conducted in the European countries. CONCLUSION(S): The MTHFR C677T mutation is not a genetic risk factor for URPL except in a Chinese population.

Published 27 November 2006 in Fertil Steril, 86(6): 1716-22.
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