Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T22:03:27.831Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Low-dose folic acid supplementation does not influence plasma methionine concentrations in young non-pregnant women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Ingeborg A. Brouwerv ,
Marijke van Dusseldorp ,
Marinus Duran ,
Chris M. G. Thomas ,
Joseph G. A. J. Hautvast ,
Tom K. A. B. Eskes  and
Régine P. M. Steegers-Theunissen
Ingeborg A. Brouwerv*
Affiliation:
Division of Human Nutrition and Epidemiology Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands Departments of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Marijke van Dusseldorp
Affiliation:
Division of Human Nutrition and Epidemiology Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Marinus Duran
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Metabolic Diseases Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Chris M. G. Thomas
Affiliation:
Departments of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Chemical Endocrinology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Joseph G. A. J. Hautvast
Affiliation:
Division of Human Nutrition and Epidemiology Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Tom K. A. B. Eskes
Affiliation:
Departments of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Régine P. M. Steegers-Theunissen
Affiliation:
Departments of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Epidemiology University Hospital Nijmegen St Radboud, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
*
*Corresponding author: Dr Ingeborg A. Brouwer, fax +31 317 483342, email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

An elevated plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) concentration is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and for having offspring with a neural-tube defect. Folate is a methyl donor in the remethylation of homocysteine into methionine. Although folic acid supplementation decreases tHcy concentrations, effects of folic acid supplementation on plasma methionine concentrations are unclear. There is also concern that folic acid supplementation negatively affects vitamin B12 status. We studied effects of low-dose folic acid supplementation on methionine and vitamin B12 concentrations in plasma. We also investigated whether baseline plasma methionine and tHcy concentrations correlated with the baseline folate and vitamin B12 status. For a period of 4 weeks, 144 young women received either 500 μg folic acid each day, or 500 μg folic acid and placebo tablets on alternate days, or a placebo tablet each day. Plasma methionine, tHcy and plasma vitamin B12 concentrations were measured at start and end of the intervention period. Folic acid supplementation had no effect on plasma methionine or plasma vitamin B12 concentrations although it significantly decreased tHcy concentrations. Plasma methionine concentrations showed no correlation with either tHcy concentrations (Spearman rs - 0·01, P = 0·89), or any of the blood vitamin variables at baseline. Baseline tHcy concentrations showed a slight inverse correlation with baseline concentrations of plasma vitamin B12 (rs - 0·25, P < 0·001), plasma folate (rs - 0·24, P < 0·01) and erythrocyte folate (rs - 0·19, P < 0·05). In conclusion, low-dose folic acid supplementation did not influence plasma methionine or plasma vitamin B12 concentrations. Furthermore, no correlation between plasma methionine concentrations and the blood folate and vitamin B12 status was shown.

Keywords

Folic acidMethionineHomocysteineVitamin B12
Type
Short-communication
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 82 , Issue 2 , August 1999 , pp. 85 - 89
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1999

References

Andersson, A, Brattström, L, Israelsson, B, Isaksson, A & Hultberg, B (1990) The effect of excess daily methionine intake on plasma homocysteine after a methionine loading test in humans. Clinica Chimica Acta 192, 69–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Araki, A & Sako, Y (1987) Determination of free and total homocysteine in human plasma by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Journal of Chromatography 422, 43–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boushey, CJ, Bereford, SAA, Omenn, GS & Motulsky, AG (1995) A quantitative assessment of plasma homocysteine as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Probable benefits of increasing folic acid intakes. Journal of the American Medical Association 274, 1049–1057.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brants, HAM & Hulshof, KFAM (1995) De Ontwikkeling van een Voedingsmiddelentabel met Foliumzuurgehalten (Development of a Food Table with Folic Acid Values). Zeist, The Netherlands: TNO-nutrition.Google Scholar
Brouwer, IA, van Dusseldorp, M, Thomas, GMC, Duran, M, Hautvast, JGAJ, Eskes, TKAB & Steegers-Theunissen, RPM (1999) Low-dose folic acid supplementation decreases plasma homocysteine: a randomized trial. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 69, 99–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, TJ, Houghton, LA, Donovan, UM, Gibson, RS & O'Connor, DL (1998) Oral contraceptives did not affect biochemical folate indexes and homocysteine concentrations in adolescent females. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 98, 49–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guttormsen, AB, Schneede, J, Ueland, PM & Refsum, HM (1996) Kinetics of total plasma homocysteine in subjects with hyperhomocysteinemia due to folate or cobalamin deficiency. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 63, 194–202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heinle, RW & Welch, AD (1947) Folic acid in pernicious anemia. Failure to prevent neurologic relapse. Journal of the American Medical Association 133, 739–741.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacob, RA, Wu, M-M, Henning, SM & Swenseid, ME (1994) Homocysteine increases as folate decreases in plasma of healthy men during short-term dietary folate and methyl group restriction. Journal of Nutrition 124, 1072–1080.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacob, RA, Pianalto, FS, Henning, SW, Zhang, JZ & Swenseid, ME (1995) In vivo methylation capacity is not impaired in healthy men during short-term dietary folate and methyl group restriction. Journal of Nutrition 125, 1495–1502.Google Scholar
Mills, JL, McPartlin, JM, Kirke, PN, Lee, YJ, Conley, MR, Weir, DG & Scott, JM (1995) Homocysteine metabolism in pregnancies complicated by neural-tube defects. Lancet 345, 149–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Potgieter, H, Ubbink, JB, Bissbort, S, Bester, MJ, Spies, JH & Vermaak, WJ (1997) Spontaneous oxidation of methionine: effect on the quantification of plasma methionine levels. Analytical Biochemistry 248, 86–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scriver, CR, Gregory, DM, Sovetts, D & Tissenbaum, G (1985) Normal plasma free amino acid values in adults: the influence of some common physiological variables. Metabolism 34, 868–873.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steegers-Theunissen, RPM, Boers, GHJ, Trijbels, FJM, Finkelstein, JD, Blom, HJ, Thomas, CGM, Borm, GF, Wouters, MGAJ & Eskes, TKAB (1994) Maternal hyperhomocysteinemia: a risk factor for neural-tube defects?. Metabolism 43, 1475–1480.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stichting, NEVO (1993) Dutch Nutrient Data Base. The Hague, The Netherlands: Voorlichtingsbureau voor de Voeding.Google Scholar
Ubbink, JB, Vermaak, WJH, Delport, R, van der Merwe, A, Becker, PJ & Potgieter, H (1995) Effective homocysteine metabolism may protect South African blacks against coronary heart disease. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 62, 802–808.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ward, M, McNulty, H, McPartlin, J, Strain, JJ, Weir, DG & Scott, JM (1997) Plasma homocysteine, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, is lowered by physiological doses of folic acid. Quarterly Journal of Medicine 90, 519–524.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed