Abstract
In humans on a normal diet, about 50% of homocysteine is remethylated to methionine with methyltetrahydrofolate as the methyl donor. Hence, folate deficiency may result in inadequate synthesis of the methyl donor, leading to homocysteine accumulation. Moderate homocysteinemia has been associated with atherosclerotic vascular disorders in humans but other contributory factors have not been excluded.
To study the effect of isolated folate deficiency, 2 groups of 45 rats were given (1) adequate folate or (2) folate deficient chemically defined diets. Five rats in each group were killed biweekly for serum chemical analysis. B12 and pyridoxine remained normal in both groups throughout the experiments.
The differences in folate and total homocysteine between the 2 groups were statistically significant (P< 0.001). Serum folate in rats from 4-10 weeks and from 12-20 weeks was similar respectively to low normal and subnormal level in humans observed to have moderate homocysteinemia. This raises questions regarding normal serum folate values and folate requirement in humans.
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Lin, J., Kang, S., Zhou, J. et al. FOLATE DEFICIENCY INDUCED HOMOCYSTEINEMIA. Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 344 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-01060
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-01060