Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is an uncommon condition characterized by severe clinical manifestations and high mortality rate. There is limited data on the role of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) A1298C mutation as a risk factor for CVT development in Iranians. AIM: The aim was to investigate a possible association between fasting plasma homocysteine (Hcy) levels, MTHFR A1298C mutation, and CVT in Iranian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 50 patients with a diagnosis of CVT (20-63 years old) and 75 healthy subjects (18-65 years old) as control. Genotyping of the MTHFR A1298C mutation and Hcy measurement was carried out by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique and enzyme immunoassay method, respectively. RESULTS: Fasting plasma total Hcy levels were significantly higher in CVT patients than controls (P = 0.015). No significant differences were observed in the MTHFR A1298C genotypes frequency between CVT patients and controls (P > 0.05). The frequency of the 1298C allele was 36% and 37.5% in CVT patients and controls, respectively and did not differ significantly between the two groups (P = 0.16). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that MTHFR A1298Cmutation is not a significant risk factor for CVT.