Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar 10;19(6):3255.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19063255.

A Study of the MTHFR Gene Prevalence in a Rural Tennessee Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Center Population

Leslie Cole  1 , Alina Cernasev  2 , Katie Webb  3 , Santosh Kumar  4 , A Shaun Rowe  5
Affiliations

A Study of the MTHFR Gene Prevalence in a Rural Tennessee Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Center Population

Leslie Cole et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) has been linked to dopamine and the neurological reward centers. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is an enzyme involved in the production of many neurotransmitters such as dopamine. As such, MTHFR variants that lead to decreased production of neurotransmitters may play a role in OUD. However, lacunae exist for characterizing the prevalence of the MTHFR mutations in an OUD population. The objective of this study was to determine prevalence of the MTHFR gene mutations in a rural Tennessean population with OUD. Methods: This study was a retrospective cohort of individuals with OUD that evaluated the prevalence of MTHFR variants. Patients were categorized as normal, homozygous C677T, heterozygous C677T, homozygous A1298C, or heterozygous A1298C. The primary outcome was a qualitative comparison of the prevalence of each of the MTHFR variants in our cohort to the publicly reported MTHR polymorphism prevalence. Secondary outcomes include race and ethnicity differences as well as stimulant use differences for each of the variants. Results: A total of 232 patients undergoing care for opioid use disorder were included in the study. Of those included, 30 patients had a normal MTHFR allele and 202 had a variant MTHFR allele. Overall, the prevalence of any MTHFR variant was 87.1% (95% CI 82.6-91.4%). When comparing those with a normal MTHFR allele to those with any MTHFR variant, there was no difference in age, sex, race and ethnicity, or stimulant use. Conclusion: The overall prevalence of MTHFR variants in patients with opioid use disorders is high.

Keywords: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene; addiction; opioid use disorder; prevalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Lake S., Hayashi K., Buxton J., Milloy M.-J., Dong H., Wood E., Montaner J., Kerr T. The effect of prescription opioid injection on the risk of non-fatal overdose among people who inject drugs. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2015;156:297–303. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.09.026. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Degenhardt L., Whiteford H., Hall W.D. The Global Burden of Disease projects: What have we learned about illicit drug use and dependence and their contribution to the global burden of disease? Drug Alcohol Rev. 2013;33:4–12. doi: 10.1111/dar.12088. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Volkow N.D., Collins F.S. The Role of Science in Addressing the Opioid Crisis. N. Engl. J. Med. 2017;377:391–394. doi: 10.1056/NEJMsr1706626. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Drug Overdose Deaths. CDC; Atlanta, GA, USA: 2019. [(accessed on 17 March 2020)]. Available online: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html.
    1. Center for Disease Control . Vital Statistics Rapid Release Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts. CDC; Atlanta, GA, USA: 2021. [(accessed on 21 August 2021)]. Available online: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm.

Substances