Effects of folic acid deficiency and MTHFR C677T polymorphism on spontaneous and radiation-induced micronuclei in human lymphocytes

Folic acid plays a key role in the maintenance of genomic stability, providing methyl groups for the conversion of uracil to thymine and for DNA methylation. Besides dietary habits, folic acid metabolism is influenced by genetic polymorphism. The C677T polymorphism of the methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene is associated with a reduction of catalytic activity and is sug-gested to modify cancer risk differently depending on folate status. In this work the effect of folic acid deficiency on genome stability and radiosensitivity has been investigated in cultured lymphocytes of 12 subjects with different MTHFR genotype (four for each genotype). Cells were grown for 9 days with 12, 24 and 120 nM folic acid and analyzed in a comprehensive micronucleus test coupled with centromere characterization by CREST immunostain