Folic Acid: No Longer Just for Pregnant Women

By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, April 19, 2005, abstracted from “Homocysteine triggers mucosal microvascular activation in inflammatory bowel disease�?in the April 2005 issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology

Folic acid supplementation of the food supply in the mid-1990’s has helped reduce neural tube defects (NTDs) by twenty-three percent(1) and caused the U.S. Public Health Service and Institute of Medicine to recommend 400 micrograms of folic acid daily for all women who may become pregnant.(2)

Now, a new study(3) has found folic acid to be important in helping prevent another serious condition: Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an inflammatory condition of the intestines that has no known cause but is thought to involve an immune reaction of the body to its own intestinal tract. It is estimated that over one million Americans suffer from either Ulcerative Colitis (UC) or Crohn’s Disease (CD), the two major types of IBD.(4)

In an effort to see whether Homocysteine (Hcy) would trigger an inflammatory reaction on human intestinal microvascular endothelial cells (HIMECs), researchers measured Hcy levels in 83 patients with CD, 83 patients with UC, and 70 healthy patients (control subjects). Hcy is an amino acid that, if not converted to cysteine, can increase inflammation in the body and be a significant contributor to chronic disease(5)

The researchers found that the IBD patients had significantly higher Hcy levels than the control subjects and that folic acid supplementation blocked the ability of HIMECs to bind to inflammatory cells in the body, possibly decreasing the inflammatory process in the body.

In addition to finding that Hcy could play a pro-inflammatory role in IBD, researchers stated that "It could be reasonable to hypothesize a beneficial effect of folic acid supplementation in IBD patients to eliminate the homocysteine-mediated inflammatory events."

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at [email protected] or by visiting his website at www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com

Reference:

1 “Spina Bifida and Anencephaly Before and After Folic Acid Mandate --- United States, 1995--1996 and 1999�?000�?from MMWR Weekly 2004; 53(17): 362-365

2 “Recommendations for the Use of Folic Acid to Reduce the Number of Cases of Spina Bifida and Other Neural Tube Defects�?from MMWR Weekly 2004; 41(RR-14): 001

3 Danese S. Homocysteine triggers mucosal microvascular activation in inflammatory bowel disease. Am J Gastroenterol. 2005 Apr;100(4):886-95

4 “Inflammatory Bowel Disease�?posted on the www.Emedicine.com website June 9, 2004.

5 LEF (2003). Life Extension Foundation's Guide to Disease Prevention and Treament, Life Extension Media. Fourth Edition. p. 419-421