Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Very large increases in blood folate levels of the U.S. population occurred between 1988-1994 and 1999-2000. Small fluctuations in blood folate levels occurred over the time period 1999-2006. The median red blood cell (RBC) folate level of the U.S. population 4 years of age and older was 266 ng/mL in 2005-2006. The median serum fo...

Folate is required for 1-carbon metabolism and deficiency in folate leads to megaloblastic anemia. Low levels of folate have been associated with increased risk of vascular disease. To investigate whether RDA of folate are met, habitual folate intake needs to be assessed reliably. We developed a FFQ to specifically measure folate intake over the previous 3 months in elderly people in the Nether...

Intracellular folate homeostasis is essential for the 1-carbon transfer reactions necessary for DNA synthesis and biological methylation reactions in colonic epithelial cells. Perturbed 1-carbon transfer reactions resulting from folate depletion predispose normal colonic epithelial cells to neoplastic transformation while inhibiting the growth of colon cancer cells. Using an in vitro model of f...

Background. Pregnant and breastfeeding women are at risk for folate deficiency. Folate supplementation has been shown to be associated with enhanced markers of folate status. However, dose-response analyses for adult women are still lacking. Objective. To assess the dose-response relationship between total folate intake (folic acid plus dietary folate) and markers of folate status (plasma/serum...

BACKGROUND Suboptimal maternal folate status is considered a risk factor for neural tube defects (NTDs). However, the relationship between dietary folate status and risk of NTDs appears complex, as experimentally induced folate deficiency is insufficient to cause NTDs in nonmutant mice. In contrast, folate deficiency can exacerbate the effect of an NTD-causing mutation, as in splotch mice. The ...

Abstract Background Periconceptional folic acid (FA) supplementation not only reduces the incidence of neural tube defects, but also improves cognitive performances in offspring. However, genes or pathways that are epigenetically regulated by FA neurodevelopment were rarely reported. Methods To elucidate underlying mechanism, effect on methylation profiles brain tissue male rat offspring was as...

BACKGROUND The major route of folate turnover is by catabolic cleavage of the C9-N10 bond producing p-aminobenzoylglutamate (pABG) and its primary excretory form, p-acetamidobenzoylglutamate (ApABG). We hypothesize that total pABG (ApABG + pABG) excretion parallels both the mass of body folate pools from which these catabolites originate and the folate-status indicators. OBJECTIVE The objecti...

The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a folate food frequency questionnaire (FFQ)1 designed to measure dietary folate equivalents. The self-administered FFQ containing 39 items and a reference period of 1 month (i.e. the previous month), was validated against three biomarkers: serum and erythrocyte (RBC) folate, and plasma homocysteine (Hcy). Subjects were women (n=99) betwee...

The dairy starter bacterium Lactococcus lactis is able to synthesize folate and accumulates large amounts of folate, predominantly in the polyglutamyl form. Only small amounts of the produced folate are released in the extracellular medium. Five genes involved in folate biosynthesis were identified in a folate gene cluster in L. lactis MG1363: folA, folB, folKE, folP, and folC. The gene folKE e...

UNLABELLED Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) inhibits folate metabolism by the malaria parasite. We investigated the association between folate levels and SP failure in pregnant women. Data from a trial to assess the effect that folate supplementation has on SP failure in 467 pregnant women were analyzed. Plasma folate levels were determined at enrollment and at day 7. High baseline folate levels,...