Effects of MTHFR gene polymorphism on the clinical and electrophysiological characteristics of migraine.

BACKGROUND: It was previously shown that the MTHFR gene polymorphism correlated with an increased risk of migraine, particularly migraine with aura. The substitution of cytosine for thymine at the position 677 of the MTHFR gene leads to formation of the thermolabile form of the protein and development of hyperhomocysteinemia, which increases the probability of migraine. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the replacement of C677T in the gene MTHFR influenced any particular symptoms of the disease. METHODS: We have analyzed clinical and electrophysiological characteristics of 83 patients with migraine (migraine with aura (MA), 19 patients, and migraine without aura (MO), 64 patients, according to the ICHD-II (2003)) taking into account their genotypes of C677T variant of MTHFR. RESULTS: We have shown that MA was significantly more prevalent among the T-allele carriers (37.2%), as compared to the СС genotype patients (0%), р < 0.0001. Patients with TT genotype were not only more likely to have accompanying symptoms (significant differences were found only for photophobia), but also more sensitive to migraine attack triggers. In RP-VEP test results we observed a trend that the T-allele carriers were presented with the decreased N75/P100 amplitudes and a positive habituation index, as compared to the СС genotype patients. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, according to our data, the MTHFR genotypes are associated with several clinical and electrophysiological characteristics of migraine.

Singularities of Møller-Plesset energy functions.

The convergence behavior of Møller-Plesset (MP) perturbation series is governed by the singularity structure of the energy, with the energy treated as a function of the perturbation parameter. Singularity locations, determined from quadratic approximant analysis of high-order series, are presented for a variety of atoms and small molecules. These results can be used as benchmarks for understanding the convergence of low-order methods such as MP4 and for developing and testing summation methods that model the singularity structure. The positions and types of singularities confirm previous qualitative predictions based on functional analysis of the Schrodinger equation.

On the nature of the Møller-Plesset critical point.

It has been suggested [F. H. Stillinger, J. Chem. Phys. 112, 9711 (2000)] that the convergence or divergence of Møller-Plesset perturbation theory is determined by a critical point at a negative value of the perturbation parameter z at which an electron cluster dissociates from the nuclei. This conjecture is examined using configuration-interaction computations as a function of z and using a quadratic approximant analysis of the high-order perturbation series. Results are presented for the He, Ne, and Ar atoms and the hydrogen fluoride molecule. The original theoretical analysis used the true Hamiltonian without the approximation of a finite basis set. In practice, the singularity structure depends strongly on the choice of basis set. Standard basis sets cannot model dissociation to an electron cluster, but if the basis includes diffuse functions then it can model another critical point corresponding to complete dissociation of all the valence electrons. This point is farther from the origin of the z plane than is the critical point for the electron cluster, but it is still close enough to cause divergence of the perturbation series. For the hydrogen fluoride molecule a critical point is present even without diffuse functions. The basis functions centered on the H atom are far enough from the F atom to model the escape of electrons away from the fluorine end of the molecule. For the Ar atom a critical point for a one-electron ionization, which was not previously predicted, seems to be present at a positive value of the perturbation parameter. Implications of the existence of critical points for quantum-chemical applications are discussed.