Allelic variants of folate metabolism genes among students in Arctic Russia

Abstract

AIM: To assess the prevalence of allelic variants of folate metabolism genes in Russian and Indian students living in the Arctic region of Russia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed on a sample of ethnic Indians, students at the Faculty of General Practitioner of the Northern State Medical University, living in Arkhangelsk and ethnic Russians who were born in Arkhangelsk region. The study included 117 ethnic Indians and 195 Russian participants. A survey of participants and a molecular genetic study of the nucleotide sequence in the genes involved in the exchange of folate by real-time PCR were carried out. A group of ethnic Indians was compared with Russians according to 4 variants of the nucleotide sequence in the genes involved in folate metabolism. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were observed in the frequency distribution of the T allele of the MTHFR gene polymorphism (rs1801133) (p=0.001). Among Russians, the occurrence of the T allele was found to be 26.3%, whereas among Indians, it was only 7.7%. At the same time, no statistically significant differences were found in the distribution of other polymorphic variants of the folate cycle genes between the groups. The mutant allele G of the MTRR gene polymorphism (rs1801394) was the most frequently occurring polymorphism among the participants. CONCLUSION: Greater prevalence of the unfavorable allele T of the MTHFR gene (rs1801133) compared to the group of ethnic Indians may suggest an elevated susceptibility to folate metabolism disorders in the Russian population