BACKGROUND Adequate folate supplementation in the periconceptional phase is recommended to reduce the risk of neural tube defects. Oral contraceptives may provide a reasonable delivery vehicle for folate supplementation before conception in women of childbearing potential. This study aimed to demonstrate that a fixed-dose combination of an oral contraceptive and levomefolate calcium leads to su...

OBJECTIVE To characterise plasma and red-blood-cell (RBC) folate status among pregnant women in an area with an extremely high prevalence of neural tube defects, and to compare them with those of women from a low prevalence area. DESIGN A cross-sectional survey conducted in 2003. SETTING One county and one city from each of the high prevalence area and the low prevalence area in China. SU...

Canada fortifies certain products with folic acid and has periconceptional supplementation guidelines [Formula: see text] policies designed to improve folate status and reduce the incidence of poor birth outcomes. Though optimal folate concentrations have been linked to health benefits, concerns have been raised regarding potential associations with adverse health outcomes. Direct biochemical a...

the aim of this cross sectional study was to determine anemias due to deficiency of iron,vitamin B12 and folate in pregnant women,who were refered to Shahid doctor mofateh hospital in varamin.in this study hemoglobin value(<11g/dl) was used as the determinant of anemia,therefore,the study was performed on 251 pregnant women.the proportions of women having abortions and cesarean sections were 10...

concentrations were significantly different between HbSS and HbSC patients (P 5 0.016), and between HbSS patients and HbAA controls (P ,0.0001), as determined by the Student t-test. Our observation is consistent with the establishment of RBC folate concentrations during hemopoiesis and a subsequent decrease during circulation, causing higher RBC folate concentrations in young circulating RBCs (...

The folate status and dietary folate intake of Taiwanese schoolchildren was investigated by analysis of both serum and red blood cell (RBC) folate levels and dietary folate intake in 1105 boys and 958 girls aged 6-13 years sampled from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan Elementary School Children 2001-2002 (NAHSIT Children 2001-2002). Mean serum folate levels were 18.3+/-8.8 nmol/L (8.1+...

Primary prevention of most folate-responsive neural tube defects (NTDs) may not require 400 μg folic acid/day but may be achieved by attaining a high maternal folate status. Using RBC folate ≥906 nmol/L as a marker for NTD risk reduction, the study aimed to determine the change in blood folate concentrations in reproductive age women in response to long-term folic acid supplementation at 400 µg...

BACKGROUND Folate has been shown to play a complex but unclear role in carcinogenesis, with some studies showing that low folate intake protects against early carcinogenesis while high folate intake promotes advanced carcinogenesis. Other studies have shown that high folate is associated with decreased breast cancer risk and overall survival, yet others found no such association.This study ther...

OBJECTIVE To examine the association between BMI and folate concentrations in serum and red blood cells (RBC) in pregnant women. DESIGN A cross-sectional comparison of folate concentrations in serum and RBC sampled simultaneously from the same individual. SETTING The Ottawa Hospital and Kingston General Hospital, Ontario, Canada. SUBJECTS Pregnant women recruited between 12 and 20 weeks o...

BACKGROUND The methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677C>T polymorphism is a risk factor for neural tube defects. The T allele produces an enzyme with reduced folate-processing capacity, which has been associated with lower blood folate concentrations. OBJECTIVE We assessed the association between MTHFR C677T genotypes and blood folate concentrations among healthy women aged 12-49 y. ...