• PMID: 15811073
• Gene Name: MTHFR
• Condition: Male infertility, idiopathic azoospermia, oligozoospermia
• Association: Associated
• Mutation: MTHFR (C677T)
• Population size: 351
• Population details: 351 (151 cases of non-obstruction, idiopathic oligo-/azoospermia, 200 fertile males (controls))
• Sex: Male
• Infertility type: Male infertility
• Associated genes: MTHFR
• Other associated phenotypes: Male infertility, idiopathic azoospermia, oligozoospermia

Mutation C677T in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene is associated with male infertility in an Indian population

Singh K, Singh SK, Sah R, Singh I, Raman R.

A mutation (C677T) in the gene, MTHFR, is known to increase susceptibility to various multifactorial disorders. In order to assess this single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) as risk factor for idiopathic male infertility, a case-control study was done on an Indian population. DNA from 151 cases of non-obstruction, idiopathic oligo-/azoospermia and 200 fertile males (controls) was polymerase chain reaction amplified using site-specific primers, and analysed for the mutation following HinfI-digestion. Our results show a significantly increased frequency of CT heterozygotes among infertile patients (p value <0.04). More importantly, while there were no T homozygotes in the control population, six of 151 infertile cases were T homozygous. Considering that T allele occurs in very low frequency in the control population, 677T is clearly a risk factor for infertility in the Indian population. We contend that the same could also be true for African and Southeast Asian populations where the frequency of 677T is very low. The lack of similar association in western populations could be because of the overall dietary enrichment of folates, which could nullify or minimize the effect of this polymorphism. FAU - Singh, Kiran AU - Singh K AD - Cytogenetics Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, India. FAU - Singh, S K AU - Singh SK FAU - Sah, R AU - Sah R FAU - Singh, Indu AU - Singh I