An increased occurrence of colorectal cancer and its adenoma precursor is observed among individuals with low intakes or circulating levels of folate, especially if alcohol intake is high, although results have not been statistically significant in all studies. We examined folate and alcohol intake and genetic polymorphisms in methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase [MTHFR 667-->T (ala-->val) and M...

Periconceptional folic acid supplementation may reduce the risk of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL(P)). Polymorphisms in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene reduce availability of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, the predominant circulating form of folate. To determine the effect of MTHFR C677T and MTHFR A1298C genotypes and haplotypes on CL(P) risk and the interaction with...

To the Editor: Recent literature has associated potential adverse effects with daily use of folic acid supplements (1000 μg), high concentrations of serum folate (26.5 ng/mL or greater [to convert to nmol/L, multiply by 2.266]), or high folic acid intake, but researchers have not adequately considered the source of folic acid. We examined the relative contribution of different sources of folic ...

BACKGROUND Dietary intake and nutritional status are important for pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes. Dietary advice on folate, targeted to women of childbearing age, aims at preventing neural tube defects in the offspring. AIM To describe food and nutrient intake and nutritional status among women of childbearing age in Sweden in relation to current nutrition recommendations. METHODS Dietar...

We investigated associations among intake of folate, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and polymorphisms of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and methionine synthase (MTR) genes and breast cancer risk in a Japanese population. A hospital based, case-control study was conducted in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, in 388 pairs of patients with histologically confirmed invasive breast c...

BACKGROUND High intake of folate, vitamin B(6), and vitamin B(12) have been hypothesized to lower the risk for breast cancer. We conducted a population-based case-control study to evaluate the risk for breast cancer among Mexican women with relatively low vitamin intakes. METHODS We included 475 women (median age, 53 years; range, 23-87 years) diagnosed with incident breast cancer through six...

A cross-sectional study was carried out among 39 current smokers (CS) and 60 noncurrent smokers (NCS) to evaluate the effects of cigarette smoking on folate and vitamin B-12 concentrations in the circulation and in tissues directly exposed to cigarette smoke. Univariate analysis showed significantly lower plasma, red blood cell (RBC), and buccal mucosa (BM) folate and BM vitamin B-12 concentrat...

BACKGROUND Dietary intake of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids (FA) may be associated with superior response to antirheumatic treatments. In addition, dietary folate intake may be associated with worse response to methotrexate (MTX). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between dietary vitamin D, omega-3 FA, folate and treatment results of disease-modifying antirheumatic dru...

Primary care practitioners are ideally situated to carry out health promotion activities. Neural tube defects are of a fairly low incidence, but the consequences are tragic. They range from life long physical and often intellectual disabilities, to death at birth. Increased folate intake, either through eating folate rich foods or through supplementation, has been shown to reduce the incidence ...

BACKGROUND Folate is critical for cell division, a major feature of in utero development. Dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) is required to convert the folic acid used in supplements and for food fortification and the dihydrofolate produced by thymidylate synthase during DNA synthesis to the reduced folate forms used by the cell. OBJECTIVE We aimed to determine whether a common, recently discover...