mthfr gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to migraine attacks

background: migraine consisting of migraine with aura (ma) and migraine without aura (mo) is a painful neurovascular disorder affecting approximately 16% of the general population. a combination of genetic and environmental factors is involved in the pathogenesis of migraine. the mthfr enzyme is involved in homocysteine (hcy) metabolism and it has been reported that 1298 a to c and 677 c to t mutations   in the mthfr gene are associated with an increased in plasma hcy levels. hcy is a highly reactive amino acid and causes endothelial injury. because a plausible theory about vascular impairment in migraine, it is considered that mutations in mthfr gene and folate metabolism are associated with migraine. materials and methods: in total, 75 patients with migraine (24 with ma and 51with mo) in accordance with the ihs criteria participated in this case-control study. control group were 128 normal matched healthy subjecys who selected from same region without history of migraine or other neurologic disorder after interviewing and examining by a physician. mean age at entry was 36.42±9.6 and 31.64±8.9 years old in migraine and control group respectively.  mthfr polymorphisms were investigated by pcr-rflp. results: genotypic results indicated that the prevalence of the mthfr 677tt genotype in migraine subjects was higher than control (17.3% and 3.1% respectively, p<0.001).  interestingly the risk of migraine was 6-fold higher in subjects possessing the mthfr 677t homozygous variant (or=6.5; ci95%: 2.03-20.76). no significant difference in the prevalence of mthfr a1298c genotypes was observed in migraine group when compared to controls (p>0.001). conclusion: it seems that mthfr c677t is a potential genetic risk factor for migraine attacks, both in ma and mo subclasses in iranian population. c677t and a1298c joint effect could amplify the potential influence of each snps. k e y w o r ds: genetic, mthfr, migraine, iran