UV-associated decline in systemic folate: implications for human nutrigenetics, health, and evolutionary processes
Abstract
© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine whether UV exposure alters folate status according to C677T-MTHFR genotype, and to consider the relevance of this to human health and the evolutionary model of skin pigmentation. Methods: Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) satellite data were used to examine surface UV-irradiance, as a marker of UV exposure, in a large (n = 649) Australian cross-sectional study population. PCR/RFLP analysis was used to genotype C677T-MTHFR. Results: Overall, cumulative UV-irradiance (42 and 120 days pre-clinic) was significantly negatively related to red cell folate (RCF) levels. When the cohort was stratified by MTHFR-C677T genotype, the relationship between UV-irradiance (42 days pre-clinic) and RCF remained significant only in the cohorts containing carriers of the T allele. Statistically significant z-score statistics and interaction terms from genotype and UV-irradiance (p-interaction) demonstrated that genotype did modify the effect of UV-irradiance on RCF, with the largest effect of UV being demonstrated in the 677TT-MTHFR subjects. Conclusions: Data provide strong evidence that surface UV-irradiance reduces long-term systemic folate levels, and that this is influenced by the C677T-MTHFR gene variant. We speculate this effect may be due to 677TT-MTHFR individuals containing more 5,10CH2-H4PteGlu, and that this folate form may be particularly UV labile. Since UV-irradiance lowers RCF in an MTHFR genotype-specific way, there are likely implications for human health and the evolution of skin pigmentation.
| Journal Article Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | Mar 24, 2017 |
| Print ISSN | 1520-6300 |
| Publisher | Wiley |
| Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Article Number | e22929 |
| APA6 Citation | Lucock, M., Beckett, E., Martin, C., Jones, P., Furst, J., Yates, Z., …Veysey, M. (2017). UV-associated decline in systemic folate: implications for human nutrigenetics, health, and evolutionary processes. American Journal of Human Biology, 29(2), https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.22929 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.22929 |
| Keywords | Folate; Pigmentation; UV; MTHFR; Evolution; Nutrigenetics |
| Publisher URL | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajhb.22929 |