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Red blood cell folate concentrations in term newborns: recent findings in the Slovak Republic

  • Section Cellular and Molecular Biology
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Abstract

Folate plays one of the most important functions for nucleotide biosynthesis and cellular methylation reactions in cells. Folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism is essential for metabolic processes in the human body. During periods of rapid cell growth, such as perinatal period, increased amounts of folate are required. The determination of red blood cell (RBC) folate concentration levels is the most accurate indicator of long-term folate level status in the body. This prospective study determined RBC folate concentration levels on the first day of life from umbilical cord blood samples in the whole group of full-term newborns (n = 150), who were hospitalized at the Department of Neonatology at the University Hospital in Bratislava. Immunochemical analysis for the determination of folate levels in erythrocytes was performed (Roche Diagnostics, Germany). Mothers were asked to select different types of food and use folic acid or other multivitamin supplements containing also folic acid. Our results of RBC folate ranged from 625 to 1748 ng/mL (5th–95th percentile). The median was 935 ng/mL and deficiency was not observed in any sample. RBC folate concentration levels in newborns due to mother’s intake of multivitamin supplements were significantly increased (p = 0.02). No differences were observed in the levels of RBC folate concentration when mothers used only folic acid. The RBC folate concentration tended to change based on many factors on both the mother’s and the newborn’s sides. Our results showed different results of RBC folate when focused on neonatal period and maternal intake of vitamins during pregnancy.

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Abbreviations

5-MTHF:

5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate

5.10-MTHF:

5.10-methyl-tetrahydrofolate

MTHFR:

methylentetrahydrofolatereductase

NTD:

neural tube defects

RBC:

red blood cell

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neonatal Department of Intensive Care, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava and University Children’s Hospital, Limbova 1, SK-83340, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Tatiana Reváková & Ingrid Brucknerová

  2. Department of Clinical Biochemistry, University Children’s Hospital, Limbova 1, SK-83340, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Alena Vasilenková & Darina Behúlová

  3. 1st Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Slovak Medical University and University Hospital, Limbova 5, SK-83305, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Margita Galliková

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  1. Tatiana Reváková
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  2. Alena Vasilenková
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  3. Darina Behúlová
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  4. Margita Galliková
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  5. Ingrid Brucknerová
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Correspondence to Tatiana Reváková or Ingrid Brucknerová.

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Electronic supplementary material. The online version of this article (DOI:10.2478/s11756-014-0482-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Reváková, T., Vasilenková, A., Behúlová, D. et al. Red blood cell folate concentrations in term newborns: recent findings in the Slovak Republic. Biologia 69, 1784–1789 (2014). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-014-0482-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-014-0482-5

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