Folic Acid; Is Simple Folic Acid Effective to Replenish RBC Folate Stores Among Pakistani Femal Epatients? Small Case.

Abstract

ABSTRACT… Objectives: The objective of our study was to assess the effectiveness of folic acid in optimizing the red blood cells folate levels and to observe the frequency of folate resistance among Pakistani female patients. Setting: Outpatient Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Jinnah Post graduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi. Period: January-July 2016. Methodology: Participants fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included after informed consent. Detail history and physical examination was done in each participant. All study participants received 5mg (400 µg) folic acid as a daily supplement for 24 weeks. Red blood cell folate concentrations were measured at baseline and after 24 weeks of therapy. Paired sample t-test was used to find out significant difference between folate levels. Results: A total of 44 women (23 pregnant while 21 non pregnant) were included in the study. Mean age of the participants was 27.6 ± 5.9years and mean BMI was 23.9 ± 4.1kg/m 2 respectively. The mean values of Red blood cells folate at baseline and at 24 weeks were 623.6 ± 406.6 and 861.9 ± 432.4respectively. Paired sample t-test results showed that there was no significant difference. Thirty-two (70.4%) women showed an increase in RBC folate status while 13 (29.6%) women had steady or decreased levels of folate after taking folic acid for 24 weekswhich may be due to RBS enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) deficiency. Conclusion: Simple folic acid supplementation is not very helpful in improving folate status in female Pakistani patients. Resistant to improvement may be due to MTHFR deficiency in our study subjects. Key words:Folic