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Original Articles |
From the Division of Cardiology (E.G., S.W., D.R.), Department of Pediatrics, The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Pa; and the Institute of Biosciences and Technology (P.J.L., L.E.M.), Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, Houston, Tex.
Correspondence to Elizabeth Goldmuntz, MD, Division of Cardiology, The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Abramson Research Center 702A, 3615 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4318. E-mail goldmuntz{at}email.chop.edu
Received June 3, 2008; accepted September 19, 2008.
| Abstract |
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Methods and Results— The present study examined the relationships between variation in 9 folate-related genes and a subset of CHD phenotypes (ie, conotruncal defects, perimembranous and malalignment type ventricular septal defects, and isolated aortic arch anomalies) in a cohort of >700 case-parent triads. Further, both maternal and embryonic genetic effects were considered. Analyses of the study data confirmed an earlier reported association between embryonic genotype for MTHFR A1298C and disease risk (unadjusted P=0.002).
Conclusions— These results represent the most comprehensive and powerful analysis of the relationship between CHD and folate-related genes reported to date, and provide additional evidence that, similar to neural tube defects, this subset of CHD is folate related.
Key Words: genes genetics pediatrics conotruncal defects folate
| Introduction |
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As a group, CHD includes a broad range of malformations that are anatomically, epidemiologically, developmentally, and clinically heterogeneous.3 Although the extent to which different forms of CHD may share a common cause is poorly understood, subgroups of CHD, which appear to be more similar to each other than to other forms of CHD, have been identified.4 One such subgroup includes malformations of the cardiac outflow tracts and great arteries, which are commonly referred to as conotruncal defects (CTDs). This subgroup of CHD (ie, CTD) involves cardiac structures that are, in part, derived from common cell lineages (ie, cardiac neural crest cells and the secondary heart field).5 In addition, family studies suggest that the defects within this subgroup share common genetic underpinnings. Specifically, the affected relatives of individuals with a CTD are more likely to have a CTD than other forms of CHD,6–8 suggesting that the various types of CTD are more closely related to each other than to other forms of CHD. Evidence also suggests that CTD may, in some cases, be etiologically related to perimembranous and malalignment type ventricular septal defects (VSDs), and isolated aortic arch anomalies (AAA). In particular, these lesions co–occur in the same individual (eg, CTD and AAA) and in the same kindred with multiple affected members.6–8 Animal models of single gene defects frequently display a similar spectrum of cardiovascular anomalies,9–13 as do human genetic syndromes. For example, the cardiovascular phenotype of the 22q11 deletion syndrome includes a subset of CTD as well as VSD and AAA.14–18 Therefore, despite their phenotypic differences, CTD, VSD, and AAA likely share some etiologic, and specifically genetic, risk factors.
There are several known environmental (eg, thalidomide, maternal phenylkeonuria) and genetic (eg, 22q11 deletion, Alagille syndrome) causes of CHD in humans.2,19 However, the established causes of CHD are individually quite rare, and in the majority of affected individuals a specific causative agent cannot be identified. It has been suggested that, similar to neural tube defects, the risk of CHD in general, and of conotruncal and VSDs in particular, may be influenced by maternal folate status (reviewed in Ref. 2). There is also some evidence that the risk of CHD may be influenced by variation within genes that are involved in folate-transport and metabolism.20–23 However, neither the association with maternal folate status nor with folate-related genes has been firmly established for CHD in general, or for specific subsets of CHD.2,24 Hence, further investigation of the association between CHD and folate is clearly warranted.
The present study was undertaken to establish the relationship between a relatively homogeneous subset of all CHD (ie, CTD, perimembranous and malalignment type VSD and AAA, collectively referred to conotruncal and related defects or CTRD) that has, in some but not all studies, been associated with maternal folate status, and several well-characterized variants within genes that are involved in folate metabolism.
| Methods |
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Both males and females, and individuals of any racial/ethnic group were eligible to participate. Blood samples were collected from the study subjects before surgery and blood, buccal, or saliva samples were collected from each available parent. Cases with a recognized genetic syndrome or chromosome anomaly, including those with a 22q11 deletion, were excluded from the current analyses. In addition, cases were tested for a 22q11 deletion by fluorescence in situ hybridization using standard techniques when an appropriate sample was available. Medical records including, when necessary, original imaging studies were reviewed to confirm the cardiac diagnosis and identify additional medical issues. In addition, a brief medical interview including a 3-generation pedigree was completed by a genetic counselor.
Genotyping Methods
Case and parental DNA was extracted from whole blood, buccal swabs, or lymphoblastoid cell lines using standard methods (Puregene DNA isolation kit by Gentra System Inc). Duplicate samples were included both within and across plates such that 5% of the samples were genotyped 3 times. The study cohort was genotyped for 10 polymorphisms from 9 genes including 8 single nucleotide polymorphisms and 2 insertion/deletion alleles (Table 1). All of the genes selected for analysis are involved in folate-homocysteine metabolism and had been previously suggested as potential risk factors for CHD, neural tube defects, and/or other structural malformations. Specific variants were selected for genotyping based on previous studies demonstrating an association between the variant and risk of CHD or another structural birth defect or evidence that the variant influences protein function.
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The CBS 844ins68 insertion/deletion polymorphism was genotyped using a PCR-based assay. Primers spanning the 68-bp insertion/deletion polymorphism resulted in a 280-bp or 210-bp product after PCR amplification. Genomic DNA (50 ng) was PCR amplified in a final volume of 25 µL with 1X PCR buffer II (Roche Diagnostics), 2 mM MgCl2, 200 µm dNTPs, 200 pmol of each primer, and 1 U TaqGold polymerase (Roche Diagnostics) using the following conditions: denaturation at 95°C for 5 minutes, followed by 35 cycles of 94°C for 30 s, 60°C for 30 s, and 72°C for 30 s, and final extension at 72°C for 5 minutes. Amplified product was run on a 2% agarose gel for 45 minutes at 120 V and visualized using ethidium bromide stain. The genotype of each sample was independently called by 2 laboratory members.
The DHFR 19-bp deletion polymorphism in intron 1 was genotyped using a modification of an earlier reported strategy.30 Two forward primers, one of which mapped into the deleted segment and the other outside, were used with a single reverse primer to identify product with and without the 19 bp deletion. Twenty nanograms of gDNA were amplified in a total volume of 20 µL containing 1X PCR Buffer I with 15 mM MgCl2, 0.5 U AmpliTaq Gold (both from Applied Biosystems), 0.25 mM dNTPs (Invitrogen), 0.5 µmol/L each of primers F1, F2, and R1 (Table 1), and 0.1 M betaine (US B) with the following conditions: denaturation for 4 minutes at 94°C, 35 cycles at 95°C for 1 minute, 58.6°C for 1 minute, 72°C for 1 minute, and a final extension of 7 minutes at 72°C. The PCR products were analyzed on a 3% GenePure HiRes agarose gel (ISC Bioexpress), and genotype calls were made by 2 independent laboratory members.
Statistical Methods
The characteristics of the case individuals and their parents were summarized using counts and proportions. In addition, for each analyzed variant, the proportion of samples for which a genotype could not be assigned, the proportion of samples that yielded discrepant results on repeated genotypes, and the proportion of triads that had genotype combinations that were incompatible with Mendelian inheritance were determined. For each sample, the number of genotyping failures (ie, genotypes that could not be assigned or were discrepant across repeated genotypes) was determined. These analyses were performed using SAS version 9.1 (SAS Institute Inc).
Log-linear analyses were used to assess the association between CTRD and both the case and maternal genotypes for each variant.31 For simplicity, the most common genotype for each variant was designated as the referent category. The risk of CTRD in cases, and the risk of having a child with a CTRD in mothers of cases with the heterozygous or rare homozygous genotypes, relative to cases and mothers with the common homozygous genotype, was estimated along with associated 95% confidence intervals. The significance of the case and maternal genetic effects was determined using the likelihood ratio test to compare the log-linear model that included terms for both the case and maternal genotypes, with reduced models that included terms for only the case or only the maternal genotype. In general, an unrestricted model, which allowed the relative risks associated with the heterozygous and rare homozygous genotypes to vary independently was fitted to the data. However, when the number of cases or mothers with the rare homozygous genotype was small (n
10), a dominant model of inheritance was fitted to the data. These analyses were run using LEM,32 a program for log-linear analysis with missing data that allows data from triads that have not been completely genotyped to be included in the analysis for any given variant. The association between CTRD and haplotypes formed by the 2 MTHFR variants were evaluated using an extension of the log-linear model that provides estimates of single- and double-dose haplotype effects.33 The haplotype analyses were conducted using HAPLIN version 2.1.1 running under R Version 2.5.1 for Windows. In all log-linear analyses, likelihood ratio tests with uncorrected probability values of
0.05 were considered to be of interest. However, given that multiple tests were performed (ie, n=20, tests of case and maternal genetic effects for 10 variants), the approach of Benjamini and Hochberg34 was used to control the false discovery rate at 0.05.
The log-linear analyses were conducted using data from all triads, and in a subset of the data that excluded triads in which the mother reported that she was diabetic or used insulin, was epileptic or reported the use of seizure medication, or took the drug Paxil during her pregnancy. Only triads in which both parents were non-Hispanic white were included in this subgroup to minimize the potential for biased assessment of the maternal genotype effects that can result when parents are from different racial/ethnic groups.35 To determine whether the results obtained using data from all triads were influenced by heterogeneity within the case group, 2 additional subgroups were also analyzed. One of these subgroups included data only from triads in which the case had a classic CTD (ie, tetalogy of Fallot, D-TGA, double outlet right ventricle, truncus arteriosus, or interrupted aortic arch), and the other included data only from triads in which the case had normally related great arteries (ie, tetalogy of Fallot, VSD, AAA, truncus arteriosus, or interrupted aortic arch).
Statement of Responsibility
The authors had full access to and take full responsibility for the integrity of the data. All authors have read and agree to the manuscript as written.
| Results |
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Ten well-characterized genetic variants in 9 genes involved in folate metabolism were chosen for analysis (Table 1). Genotyping was performed on 1990 DNA samples derived from members of the study triads. Genotype call rates ranged from 96% to 98% for each variant; the proportion of samples that provided discrepant results on repeat genotypes ranged from 0% to 0.8%; and the proportion of triads with genotype combinations that were incompatible with Mendelian inheritance ranged from 0.7% to 2.5% (n=5 to 19 families) per variant. On the basis of these results, all of the genotypes were considered to be of sufficiently high quality to include in the subsequent statistical analyses. However, all genotype data from families that included at least 1 genotype combination that was incompatible with Mendelian inheritance were omitted from all analyses (n=225 samples from 75 triads with a Mendelian inconsistency for 1 or more variant). In addition, all genotype data from individual samples that failed or provided discrepant results on repeat genotyping for 4 or more of the genotyped variants were omitted from all analyses (n=55 samples). The number of useable genotypes for each of the variants ranged from 1685 to 1715. The observed genotype distributions in case individuals and their mothers and fathers are presented in Supplementary Table 1. Log-linear analyses of individual variants and haplotypes formed by the 2 MTHFR variants were performed using data from all triads and in 3 subsets of triads selected to minimize heterogeneity or bias. However, as the results obtained from these subset analyses were similar to those obtained using the full data set, only the results obtained from the analyses of the full data set are presented. The distribution of the analyzed triads, by genotypes of the mother, father, and case, for each variant are provided in Supplementary Table 2.
Estimates of relative risk of CTRD and 95% confidence intervals for case and maternal genotypes, and the likelihood ratio test statistic and associated probability value for the model comparisons for each variant, are summarized in Table 3
. Uncorrected probability values
0.05 were achieved for the LRTs evaluating the association between CTRD and maternal MTR A2756G genotype (P=0.04), and case genotype for 2 variants: CBS 844ins68 (P=0.05) and MTHFR A1298C (P=0.002). However, using the false discovery rate approach to account for multiple testing, only the association between CTRD and case genotype for the MTHFR A1298C variant remained significant (maternal MTR A2756, P=0.04>0.005; case CBS 844ins68, P=0.05>0.008; case MTHFR A1298C, P=0.0021<0.0025). Among cases, individuals with MTHFR A1298C AC and CC genotypes were at decreased risk relative to cases with the AA genotype (RRAC versus AA=0.67; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.84; and RRCC versus AA=0.74; 95% CI, 0.50 to 1.12). Analysis of the haplotypes formed by the 2 MTHFR variants confirmed an effect of the case A1298C genotype only and provided no evidence of an affect of the maternal MTHFR C677T/A1298C haplotype on CTRD risk (data not presented).
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| Discussion |
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Our analyses provide weak evidence (ie, unadjusted P<0.05) that the MTR A2756G variant may influence the risk of CTRD via the maternal genotype. Interestingly, maternal genotypes that include the MTR 2756G allele have been associated with increased offspring risk of spina bifida38 and cleft lip with or without cleft palate.39 However, in 2 small case-control studies (N<200 cases) no evidence of an association between CHD and MTR A2756G40,41 was found.
Analyses of the CBS 844ins68 variant in our data also provide weak (ie, unadjusted P<0.05) evidence that the insertion allele influences CTRD risk via the genotype of the embryo. This finding is consistent with the results of at least one,41 but not all,40,42 of the earlier published studies on the relationship between this variant and CHD risk.
Perhaps of most interest are our results pertaining to the 2 MTHFR variants, which have been the focus of numerous studies aimed at identifying genetic risk factors for a range of birth defects.24 Although there have been more than a dozen studies of the relationship between the MTHFR C677T variant and CHD risk, neither the maternal nor the embryonic C677T genotype has been consistently implicated as a risk factor.43 Moreover, a recent meta-analysis of the association between CHD and the maternal and embryonic C677T genotypes provided summary odds ratios that, although >1.0, were not statistically significant.43 Our results, which are based on a sample size (n=651 triads) that is nearly as large as that of the pooled data used in the meta-analysis (n=882 cases and 664 mothers of cases), also indicate that the risk of CHD is not significantly associated with either the maternal or the embryonic MTHFR C677T genotypes. It is, however, of note that in our data, the maternal MTHFR 677TT genotype was associated with a moderate increase in the risk of CTRD among offspring (RRTT versus CC=1.39; 95% CI, 0.95 to 2.04) that is similar in magnitude to that reported in the meta-analysis (ORTT versus CC=1.2; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.74).43
The association between the MTHFR A1298C variant and CHD has been evaluated in only 5 studies, which have not been summarized earlier. Briefly, 2 small case-control studies (n=10344 and n=5840) found no evidence of an association between the A1298C variant and CHD; a family-based study (n=207 triads45) found no evidence of an association between the maternal or embryonic A1298C genotype and risk of left-sided obstructive lesions; and in a cohort study,46 infants with CHD (n=25) were reported to be more likely to have the AC or CC genotypes, when compared with unaffected infants (n=14 474), but these associations were not statistically significant. In the fifth and largest of these studies (n=375 triads), maternal MTHFR A1298C genotype was reported to be unrelated to, and the case genotype significantly related to the risk of CHD (ie, septal, CTD or right- or left-sided obstructive disease).23 Specifically, using the transmission disequilibrium test, parents heterozygous for the MTHFR A1298C variant were found to transmit the C allele to their affected offspring significantly less frequently then they transmitted the A allele (79/205=0.38; P=0.0013).23 The results of our analyses independently identified the same association between embryonic MTHFR A1298C genotype and risk of some forms of CHD. Moreover, the results from our study and the study of Hobbs et al23 are quantitatively similar in that the proportion of C alleles transmitted to affected offspring in complete trios was similar (38%23; 41% present study, data not presented).
This report summarizes the largest and most comprehensive study of the relationship between folate-related genes and CTRD to date. The results of our analyses provide independent confirmation of the earlier reported association between embryonic genotype for the MTHFR A1298C variant and the risk of CHD including, but perhaps not limited to, CTRD. Collectively, the results from this and other studies provide persuasive evidence that the risk of CHD is influenced by genetic variation within the folate pathway and provide the foundation for more comprehensive studies, which consider a broader array of folate-pathway genes, a more comprehensive set of variants (eg, tag single nucleotide polymorphisms), and the potential complexity of the relationships between genes (eg, gene-gene and gene-environment interactions) and CTRD.
| Acknowledgments |
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Sources of Funding
This research was supported by grants from the NIH/NHLBI (P50 HL74731 and R01 HL076773 to E.G. and L.E.M.). This project was also supported by Grant Number M01-RR-000240 and UL1-RR-024134 from the National Center for Research Resources. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Center for Research Resources or the National Institutes of Health.
Disclosures
None.
| Footnotes |
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