A comprehensive association analysis between homocysteine metabolic pathway gene methylation and ischemic stroke in a Chinese hypertensive population

Background Ischemic stroke (IS) is a serious global health burden. In order to improve our understanding of the risk factors associated with IS, we investigated the combined effect of the methylation of five genes related to the metabolism of homocysteine on developing IS. Methods Quantitative methylation‐specific PCR was used to measure the levels of promoter methylation in hypertensive and stroke patients. The cutoff value calculated by the maximum Youden index was used to classify the levels of gene methylation as hypomethylation and hypermethylation. Logistic regression was used to explore the relationship between gene methylation and IS. Results The methylation levels of the genes encoding methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 1 [MTHFD1], cystathionine β‐synthase [CBS], and dihydrofolate reductase [DHFR] in hypertensive patients were higher than those in stroke patients (all p