ABSTRACT: Previous studies have shown that the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs, including GSTM1, GSTT1) genes play an important role in determining the response of an individual to environmental pathogenesis and significantly relate to incidences of various human tumors, including brain tumors. However, these genes' polymorphisms on meningioma risk remains poorly understood. The relevant inferences from previous studies are hindered by their limited statistical power and conflicting results. The aim of this meta-analysis is to provide a relatively comprehensive account of the association between these polymorphisms and human meningioma risk. A literature search for eligible studies published before January 1, 2014 was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and CNKI databases. Pooled odds ratios (OR) with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were used to evaluate the strength of the association under a fixed or random effect model according to heterogeneity test results. Heterogeneity and publication bias were evaluated. All statistical analyses were conducted by using the software of STATA 12.0 (STATA Corporation, College Station, TX, USA). For MTHFR C677T (dbSNP: rs1801133) (C T) polymorphism, 9 individual case-control studies from six publications with 1,615 cases and 1,909 controls were obtained. For GSTM1 null polymorphism, there were 4 studies with 417 cases and 1,735 controls. For GSTT1 null polymorphism, there were 4 studies with 405 cases and 1,622 controls. The combined results for the MTHFR C677T show that carriers of the CT genotype may be associated with a higher meningioma risk (OR = 1.20, 95% CI 1.05-1.38, P = 0.009). Stratified analyses show that Caucasians have significantly higher risk if they carry the CT genotype of MTHFR (OR = 1.31, 95% CI 1.05-1.63, P = 0.02). Risk of Caucasians carrying TT + CT genotype is also significantly higher (OR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.02-1.58, P = 0.03). Risk of Caucasians carrying TT genotype is not significantly different compared to control population (OR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.69-1.34, P = 0.82). All of the enrolled studies about GSTM1/GSTT1 are on Caucasians. The pooled ORGSTM1 and ORGSTT1 were not significant in Caucasian population. These results indicate SNPs of MTHFR C677T are related to meningioma risk with ethnic differences. Caucasians carrying CT genotype of MTHFR C677T have significantly higher meningioma susceptibility. SNPs of GSTM1/GSTT1 are not related to meningioma risk.
