Folic Acid Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Folic Acid, including details on folate, deficiency, pregnancy, benefits, sources, side-effects.

Effect of folic acid and B vitamins on risk of cardiovascular events and total mortality among women at high risk for cardiovascular disease: a randomized trial.

Albert CM, Cook NR, Gaziano JM, Zaharris E, MacFadyen J, Danielson E, Buring JE, Manson JE

Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 900 Commonwealth Ave E, Boston, Massachusetts 02215-1204, USA. calbert@partners.org

CONTEXT: Recent randomized trials among patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease (CVD) have failed to support benefits of B-vitamin supplementation on cardiovascular risk. Observational data suggest benefits may be greater among women, yet women have been underrepresented in published randomized trials. OBJECTIVE: To test whether a combination of folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 lowers risk of CVD among high-risk women with and without CVD. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Within an ongoing randomized trial of antioxidant vitamins, 5442 women who were US health professionals aged 42 years or older, with either a history of CVD or 3 or more coronary risk factors, were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to receive a combination pill containing folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 or a matching placebo, and were treated for 7.3 years from April 1998 through July 2005. INTERVENTION: Daily intake of a combination pill of 2.5 mg of folic acid, 50 mg of vitamin B6, and 1 mg of vitamin B12. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A composite outcome of myocardial infarction, stroke, coronary revascularization, or CVD mortality. RESULTS: Compared with placebo, a total of 796 women experienced a confirmed CVD event (406 in the active group and 390 in the placebo group). Patients receiving active vitamin treatment had similar risk for the composite CVD primary end point (226.9/10,000 person-years vs 219.2/10,000 person-years for the active vs placebo group; relative risk [RR], 1.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.90-1.19; P = .65), as well as for the secondary outcomes including myocardial infarction (34.5/10,000 person-years vs 39.5/10,000 person-years; RR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.63-1.22; P = .42), stroke (41.9/10,000 person-years vs 36.8/10,000 person-years; RR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.82-1.57; P = .44), and CVD mortality (50.3/10,000 person-years vs 49.6/10,000 person-years; RR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.76-1.35; P = .93). In a blood substudy, geometric mean plasma homocysteine level was decreased by 18.5% (95% CI, 12.5%-24.1%; P < .001) in the active group (n = 150) over that observed in the placebo group (n = 150), for a difference of 2.27 micromol/L (95% CI, 1.54-2.96 micromol/L). CONCLUSION: After 7.3 years of treatment and follow-up, a combination pill of folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 did not reduce a combined end point of total cardiovascular events among high-risk women, despite significant homocysteine lowering. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00000541.

Published 7 May 2008 in JAMA, 299(17): 2027-36.
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Articles on Folic Acid published 8 April 2008:

High-dose folic acid pretreatment blunts cardiac dysfunction during ischemia coupled to maintenance of high-energy phosphates and reduces postreperfusion injury.   Circulation, 117(14): 1810-9.

BACKGROUND: The B vitamin folic acid (FA) is important to mitochondrial protein and nucleic acid synthesis, is an antioxidant, and enhances nitric oxide synthase activity. Here, we tested whether FA reduces myocardial ischemic dysfunction and postreperfusion injury. METHODS AND RESULTS: Wistar rats were pretreated with either FA (10 mg/d) or placebo for 1 week and then underwent in vivo transient left coronary artery occlusion for 30 minutes with or without 90 minutes of reperfusion (total ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Folic Acid published 31 March 2008:

Effects of interaction of folic acid with uranium (VI) and basic triphenylmethane dyes on resonance Rayleigh scattering spectra and their analytical applications.   Anal Chim Acta, 613(1): 83-90.

In pH 4.2-4.8 HAc-NaAc buffer solution, folic acid (FA) could react with uranium (VI) to form a 2:1 anionic chelate which further reacted with some basic triphenylmethane dyes (BTPMD) such as Ethyl Violet (EV), Methyl Violet (MV) and Crystal Violet (CV) to form 1:2 ion-association complexes. As a result, not only the absorption spectra were changed, but also the intensities of resonance Rayleigh scattering (RRS) were enhanced greatly and the new RRS spectra were observed. The maximum RRS ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Measurement of folate in fresh and archival serum samples as p-aminobenzoylglutamate equivalents.   Clin Chem, 54(4): 665-72.

BACKGROUND: The development of accurate and precise folate assays has been difficult, mainly because of folate instability. Large interassay and interlaboratory differences have been reported. We therefore developed a serum folate assay that measures folate and putative degradation products as p-aminobenzoylglutamate (pABG) equivalents following oxidation and acid hydrolysis. METHODS: Serum was deproteinized with acid in the presence of 2 internal calibrators ([13C2]pABG and ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Folic acid and multivitamin supplement use and risk of placental abruption: a population-based registry study.   Am J Epidemiol, 167(7): 867-74.

The authors investigated a possible association of supplemental folic acid and multivitamin use with placental abruption by using data on 280,127 singleton deliveries recorded in 1999-2004 in the population-based Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Odds ratios, adjusted for maternal age, marital status, parity, smoking, pregestational diabetes, and chronic hypertension, were estimated with generalized estimating equations for logistic regression models. Use of folic acid and/or multivitamin ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Folic Acid published 19 March 2008:

An insertion/deletion polymorphism of the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) gene is associated with serum and red blood cell folate concentrations in women.   Hum Genet, 123(3): 289-95.

A low serum folate and high homocysteine phenotype is associated with an increased risk of neural tube defects (NTDs), cardiovascular diseases and other pathologies. Thus defining both genetic and non-genetic factors that may impact folate/homocysteine metabolism will enhance our understanding of the etiologic mechanisms underlying these conditions and facilitate risk assessment. Dihydrofolate reductase catalyzes the reduction of folic acid to dihydrofolate and thereafter to tetrahydrofolate. ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Folic Acid published 14 March 2008:

Supplementation with antioxidants and folinic acid for children with Down's syndrome: randomised controlled trial.   BMJ, 336(7644): 594-7.

OBJECTIVES: To assess whether supplementation with antioxidants, folinic acid, or both improves the psychomotor and language development of children with Down's syndrome. DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial with two by two factorial design. SETTING: Children living in the Midlands, Greater London, and the south west of England. PARTICIPANTS: 156 infants aged under 7 months with trisomy 21. INTERVENTION: Daily oral supplementation with antioxidants (selenium 10 mug, zinc 5 mg, vitamin A 0.9 mg, ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Folic Acid published 6 March 2008:

High folic acid increases cell turnover and lowers differentiation and iron content in human HT29 colon cancer cells.   Br J Nutr, 99(4): 703-8.

Folate, a water-soluble B vitamin, is a cofactor in one-carbon metabolism and is essential for DNA synthesis, amino acid interconversion, methylation and, consequently, normal cell growth. In animals with existing pre-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions, folic acid supplementation increases the tumour burden. To identify processes that are affected by increased folic acid levels, we compared HT29 human colon cancer cells exposed to a chronic supplemental (100 ng/ml) level of folic acid to cells ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Folic Acid published 28 February 2008:

Characterization of folate uptake by choroid plexus epithelial cells in a rat primary culture model.   J Neurochem, 104(6): 1494-503.

Reduced derivatives of folic acid (folates) play a critical role in the development, function and repair of the CNS. However, the molecular systems regulating folate uptake and homeostasis in the central nervous system remain incompletely defined. Choroid plexus epithelial cells express high levels of folate receptor alpha (FRalpha) suggesting that the choroid plays an important role in CNS folate trafficking and maintenance of CSF folate levels. We have characterized 5-methyltetrahydrofolate ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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