Positive Health Online

Abstract

PIYATHILAKE and co-authors, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA,  piyathic@uab.edu, have studied a protective factor against cervical cancer.

Background

The authors had previously found that women polymorphic for the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene were less likely to have cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2 or 3, a form of cervical cancer. The aim of this study was to test whether this protective association is modified by riboflavin in the blood of these women.

Methodology

Riboflavin status was assessed by standard biochemical methods. The status of MTHFR polymorphism, riboflavin, and circulating concentrations of folic acid, vitamins B12, A, E, and C, and total carotene were ascertained in 170 White and 265 African-American women positive for the cervical presence of high-risk human papilloma virus. Presence/absence of CIN 2 or 3 was determined histologically, and associations with risk factors were examined using multiple logistic regression. 80 women with CIN 2 or 3 lesions were compared with 355 women without cervical lesions. The women were grouped into low (>1.4) and high (< or =1.4) riboflavin status.

Results

Women with MTHFR polymorphism and low riboflavin status were significantly less likely to have CIN 2 or 3 than was the referent group of women without the polymorphism and high riboflavin status (Odds Ratio 0.35, p = 0.034). MTHFR polymorphism was not associated with CIN 2 or 3 in women with high riboflavin status (Odds Ratio 0.51, p = 0.119), nor were any of the associations influenced by folate levels.

Conclusion

A further inactivation of polymorphic MTHFR by low riboflavin status and a resulting shift in the folic acid metabolic pathway toward DNA synthesis may explain these observations. The practical implications of this complex gene-nutrient-disease interaction will require further investigation.

References

Piyathilake CJ, Azrad M Macaluso M, Johanning GL, Cornwell PE, Partridge EE, Heimburger DC. Protective association of MTHFR polymorphism on cervical intraepithelial neoplasia is modified by riboflavin status. Nutrition 23 (3): 229-35, Mar 2007.