Genome-Wide Meta-Analysis of Homocysteine and Methionine Metabolism Identifies Five One Carbon Metabolism Loci and a Novel Association of ALDH1L1 with Ischemic Stroke

Circulating homocysteine levels (tHcy), a product of the folate one carbon metabolism pathway (FOCM) through the demethylation of methionine, are heritable and are associated with an increased risk of common diseases such as stroke, cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer and dementia. The FOCM is the sole source of de novo methyl group synthesis, impacting many biological and epigenetic pathways. However, the genetic determinants of elevated tHcy (hyperhomocysteinemia), dysregulation of methionine metabolism and the underlying biological processes remain unclear. We conducted independent genome-wide association studies and a meta-analysis of methionine metabolism, characterized by post-methionine load test tHcy, in 2,710 participants from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) and 2,100 participants from the Vitamin Intervention for Stroke Prevention (VISP) clinical trial, and then examined the association of the identified loci with incident stroke in FHS. Five genes in the FOCM pathway (GNMT [p = 1.60×10−63], CBS [p = 3.15×10−26], CPS1 [p = 9.10×10−13], ALDH1L1 [p = 7.3×10−13] and PSPH [p = 1.17×10−16]) were strongly associated with the difference between pre- and post-methionine load test tHcy levels (ΔPOST). Of these, one variant in the ALDH1L1 locus, rs2364368, was associated with incident ischemic stroke. Promoter analyses reveal genetic and epigenetic differences that may explain a direct effect on GNMT transcription and a downstream affect on methionine metabolism. Additionally, a genetic-score consisting of the five significant loci explains 13% of the variance of ΔPOST in FHS and 6% of the variance in VISP. Association between variants in FOCM genes with ΔPOST suggest novel mechanisms that lead to differences in methionine metabolism, and possibly the epigenome, impacting disease risk. These data emphasize the importance of a concerted effort to understand regulators of one carbon metabolism as potential therapeutic targets.Author Summary: Elevated homocysteine (tHcy) is strongly associated with risk for common disorders such as stroke, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer disease. Lowering tHcy levels has proven to have variable success in reducing clinical risk, so the question remains, “Are we correctly targeting these disorders by lowering tHcy?” Understanding folate one-carbon metabolism pathway (FOCM) genetic variation will aid us in developing new targets for therapy. The FOCM is essential in regulation of the epigenome, which controls genes in ways beyond nucleotide sequence. We present data generated from stroke-only and general populations where we identify strong association of genetic risk factors for variation in one-carbon metabolism function, characterized by the post-methionine load test. We show that GNMT harbors genetic and epigenetic differences that influence gene function, which may have downstream effects on the epigenome of the cell, affecting disease risk. We developed a genetic risk score that predicts post-methionine load homocysteine levels that may be useful in clinic. Finally, we identified a novel association between ischemic stroke and ALDH1L1, which emphasizes the clinical importance of this work. Our results highlight the importance of a concerted effort to target the FOCM (beyond tHcy) and parallel pathways in future pharmacogenetic work using the genetic variation we describe here.