Folic acid (or folate), which plays a key role in one-carbon metabolism, is essential for the biosynthesis of several compounds. Folic acid deficiency is probably the most common vitamin deficiency in the United States, particularly among pregnant women and alcoholics (Harvey & Ferrier, 2011).
Tetrahydrofolate (reduced folate) receives one-carbon fragments from donors such as serine, glycine, and histidine and transfers them to intermediates in the synthesis of amino acids, purines, and thymidine mono phosphate —a pyrimidine found in DNA. Anemia is a condition in which the blood has a lower than normal concentration of hemoglobin, which results in a reduced ability to transport oxygen. Nutritional anemias, those caused by inadequate intake of one or more essential nutrients, can be classified according to the size of the red blood cells or mean corpuscular volume observed in the individual. Microcytic anemia, caused by lack of iron, is the most common form of nutritional anemia. The second major category of nutritional anemia, macrocytic, results from a deficiency in folic acid or vitamin B. Note: These macrocytic anemias are commonly called megaloblastic because a deficiency of folic acid or vitamin B12 causes accumulation of large, immature red cell precursors, known as megaloblasts, in the bone marrow and the blood.
Tetrahydrofolate (reduced folate) receives one-carbon fragments from donors such as serine, glycine, and histidine and transfers them to intermediates in the synthesis of amino acids, purines, and thymidine mono phosphate —a pyrimidine found in DNA. Anemia is a condition in which the blood has a lower than normal concentration of hemoglobin, which results in a reduced ability to transport oxygen. Nutritional anemias, those caused by inadequate intake of one or more essential nutrients, can be classified according to the size of the red blood cells or mean corpuscular volume observed in the individual. Microcytic anemia, caused by lack of iron, is the most common form of nutritional anemia. The second major category of nutritional anemia, macrocytic, results from a deficiency in folic acid or vitamin B. Note: These macrocytic anemias are commonly called megaloblastic because a deficiency of folic acid or vitamin B12 causes accumulation of large, immature red cell precursors, known as megaloblasts, in the bone marrow and the blood.
Also, spina bifida and anencephaly, the most common neural tube defects, affect approximately 4,000 pregnancies of deficient folic acid in the United State annually. Folic acid supplementation before conception and during the first trimester has been shown to significantly reduce the defects. Therefore, all women of childbearing age are advised to consume 0.4 mg/day of folic acid to reduce the risk of having a pregnancy affected by neural tube defects. Adequate folate nutrition must occur at the time of conception because critical folate-dependent development occurs in the first weeks of fetal life — at a time when many women are not yet aware of their pregnancy.