Associations between maternal genotypes and metabolites implicated in congenital heart defects

作者：Chowdhury Shimul; Hobbs Charlotte A; MacLeod Stewart L; Cleves Mario A; Melnyk Stepan; James S Jill; Hu Ping; Erickson Stephen W^*

来源：Molecular Genetics and Metabolism, 2012, 107(3): 596-604.

DOI：10.1016/j.ymgme.2012.09.022

• Congenital heart defects (CHDs)
• Metabolites
• Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)
• Folate pathway
• Maternal genotypes

Background: The development of non-syndromic congenital heart defects (CHDs) involves a complex interplay of genetics, metabolism, and lifestyle. Previous studies have implicated maternal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and altered metabolism in folate-related pathways as CHD risk factors. %26lt;br%26gt;Objective: We sought to discover associations between maternal SNPs and metabolites involved in the homocysteine, folate, and transsulfuration pathways, and determine if these associations differ between CHD cases and controls. %26lt;br%26gt;Design: Genetic, metabolic, demographic, and lifestyle information was available for 335 mothers with CHD-affected pregnancies and 263 mothers with unaffected pregnancies. Analysis was conducted on 1160 SNPs, 13 plasma metabolites, and 2 metabolite ratios. A two-stage multiple linear regression was fitted to each combination of SNP and metabolite/ratio. %26lt;br%26gt;Results: We identified 4 SNPs in the methionine adenosyltransferase II alpha (MA72A) gene that were associated with methionine levels. Three SNPs in tRNA aspartic acid methyltransferase 1 (TRDMT1) gene were associated with total plasma folate levels. Glutamylcysteine (GluCys) levels were associated with multiple SNPs within the glutathione peroxidase 6 (GPX6) and O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) genes. The regression model revealed interactions between genotype and case-control status in the association of total plasma folate, total glutathione (GSH), and free GSH, to SNPs within the MGMT, 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate synthetase (MTHFS), and catalase (CAT) genes, respectively. %26lt;br%26gt;Conclusions: Our study provides further evidence that genetic variation within folate-related pathways accounts for inter-individual variability in key metabolites. We identified specific SNP-metabolite relationships that differed in mothers with CHD-affected pregnancies, compared to controls. Our results underscore the importance of multifactorial studies to define maternal CHD risk.

• 出版日期2012-11