AI Article Synopsis

  • This study investigated the effectiveness of serum folic acid testing in children and teens in a developed country without mandatory food fortification, analyzing data from over 20,000 patients aged 0-18 between 2008 and 2018.
  • Out of the patients tested, only 4.3% had folic acid deficiency, and the majority did not show signs of anemia, suggesting low rates of severe deficiency in the population studied.
  • The research highlighted that certain factors, such as male gender, older age, higher BMI, and specific medication usage (like antipsychotics or drugs for ADHD), increased the risk of folic acid deficiency, but routine testing may not be necessary for healthy children in developed countries.

Article Abstract

Unlabelled: This study aimed to evaluate the utility of serum folic acid testing in children and adolescents in a developed country without mandatory folic acid food fortification and to identify patients at risk for folic acid deficiency. In this cross-sectional study, records from primary care and hospitals were reviewed for patients aged 0-18 years who underwent serum folic acid testing. Data were retrieved from the Leumit-Health-Services database over a ten-year period (January 2008 to December 2018). Clinical and laboratory data were compared between patients with folic acid deficiency to those with normal levels. Among 20,411 pediatric patients tested, 884 (4.3%) had folic acid deficiency, of whom only 26.3% had anemia. Only two patients (0.2%) had megaloblastic anemia. Multivariate analysis showed that male gender (odds ratio(OR)1.6, 95% CI 1.22-2.12), older age (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.26-1.39), higher BMI percentile (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1-1.01), antipsychotic treatment (OR 3.23, 95% CI 1.52-6.84), celiac (OR 2.97, 95% CI 1.66-5.34), and Attention-Deficit-and-Hyperactivity-Disease (ADHD) treated with psychostimulants (OR 2.21, 95% CI 1.56-3.12) were associated with folic acid deficiency(all p < 0.01). Lower hemoglobin levels were independently associated with increased OR of folic acid deficiency (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.66-0.90, p = 0.001), but anemia as a diagnosis was not.

Conclusion: Pediatric folic acid deficiency rates were low in this nationwide cohort and not linked to megaloblastic anemia, likely due to concomitant iron deficiency anemia. Although retrospective, this might suggest low utility for routine serum folic acid testing in healthy children in developed countries, except in cases of celiac disease or specific medication use such psychostimulants or antipsychotics.

What Is Known: • Folic acid deficiency is common among children in developing countries, causing megaloblastic anemia, growth delays, and cognitive impairments. In developed countries, the prevalence is considered low.

What Is New: • Of 20,411 pediatric patients tested for serum folate, in a developed country, only 4.3% had folate deficiency. • Risk factors for deficiency included celiac, antipsychotics, and psychostimulant treatment for ADHD. • Routine folate testing in developed countries may have limited utility; Targeted screening is recommended.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00431-024-05798-8DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

folic acid
32
serum folic
12
acid deficiency
12
utility serum
8
folic
8
acid
8
children adolescents
8
acid testing
8
95%
6
low utility
4

Similar Publications

Additive CHARMM Force Field for Pterins and Folates.

J Comput Chem

January 2025

Laboratoire d'Optique et Biosciences (CNRS UMR7645, INSERM U1182), Ecole Polytechnique, Institut polytechnique de Paris, Palaiseau, France.

Folates comprise a crucial class of biologically active compounds related to folic acid, playing a vital role in numerous enzymatic reactions. One-carbon metabolism, facilitated by the folate cofactor, supports numerous physiological processes, including biosynthesis, amino acid homeostasis, epigenetic maintenance, and redox defense. Folates share a common pterin heterocyclic ring structure capable of undergoing redox reactions and existing in various protonation states.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Recent evidence suggests that environmental factors experienced by sires can be transmitted through the ejaculate (seminal plasma + sperm) into the female reproductive tract, influencing fertilization, embryo development, and postnatal offspring outcomes. This concept is termed paternal programming. In rodents, sire nutrition was shown to directly alter offspring outcomes through sperm epigenetic signatures, DNA damage/oxidative stress, cytokine profiles, and/or the seminal microbiome.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Folate receptor-targeted thiol-maleimide clicked chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose nanoparticles for cisplatin delivery in oral carcinoma.

Int J Biol Macromol

December 2024

Pharmaceutical Development of Green Innovations Group (PDGIG), Faculty of Pharmacy, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom 73000, Thailand; Research and Innovation Center for Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products, Faculty of Pharmacy, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom 73000, Thailand. Electronic address:

This study aimed to develop cisplatin (CDDP)-loaded folic acid (FA)-decorated nanoparticles (NPs) as targeted drug carrier towards overexpressed folate receptors on the oral carcinoma cell line (KB cells). The FA-conjugated thiolated succinyl chitosan (FA-SH-SCS) and maleimide-grafted-carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-MAL) were synthesized and acquired in the preparation of NPs via thiol-maleimide click reaction. The physicochemical characteristics, drug loading, and drug release of the FA-decorated NPs (FA-NPs) were examined.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Advances in Dendritic Systems and Dendronized Nanoparticles: Paradigm Shifts in Cancer Targeted Therapy and Diagnostics.

Mol Pharm

December 2024

School of Pharmacy and Technology Management, SVKM's Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Deemed to be University, Shirpur, Dhule, Maharashtra 425405, India.

Cancer has emerged as a global health crisis, claiming millions of lives annually. Dendrimers and dendronized nanoparticles, a novel class of nanoscale molecules with highly branched three-dimensional macromolecular structures, have gained significant attention in cancer treatment and diagnosis due to their unique properties. These dendritic macromolecules offer a precisely controlled branching architecture, enabling functionalization with specific targeting molecules to enhance the selective delivery of therapeutic agents to tumor cells while minimizing systemic toxicity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

HDAC10 switches NLRP3 modification from acetylation to ubiquitination and attenuates acute inflammatory diseases.

Cell Commun Signal

December 2024

Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Cheeloo college of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, China.

Background: The NOD-like receptor protein (NLRP)3 inflammasome is at the signaling hub center to instigate inflammation in response to pathogen infection or oxidative stress, and its tight control is pivotal for immune defense against infection while avoiding parallel intensive inflammatory tissue injury. Acetylation of NLRP3 is critical for the full activation of NLRP3 inflammasome, while the precise regulation of the acetylation and deacetylation circuit of NLRP3 protein remained to be fully understood.

Methods: The interaction between histone deacetylase 10 (HDAC10) and NLRP3 was detected by immunoprecipitation and western blot in the HDAC10 and NLRP3 overexpressing cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!