Folate folic acid, relationship

A consequence of these studies is that the Food and Drug Administration (fTDA) has recomtnended that commercially available flour and cereal products be fortified w ith folic acid 1-4 tug folic acid/kg flour) for preventing NTDs (Tucker cf ai, 1996). The consumer interested in the folate level in any particular food can view the label on the package. Folic acid supplements have the effect of reducing the level of homocysteine in the blood. This homocysteine effect appears directly relevant to the prevention of atherosclerosis, but may also be relevant to neural tube defects. The reader interested in continuing developments regarding neural tube defects and folate should take note of the relationship between folate and homocysteine, presented in the Vitamin 8 section. 

Ml. McLean, F. W., Heine, M. W., Held, B., and Streiff, R. R., Relationship between oral contraceptive and folic acid metabolism Serum folate concentrations. Amer. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 104, 745-747 (1969). 

Scheme 10a in Fig. 5 represents the formation of low-MW closed assemblies such as host-guest complexes, supermolecules, and cyclic oligomers. Examples include the supermolecules 11 and 12 and the cyclic folic acid tetramer (3 in Fig. 3). These compounds aroused interest due to their pronounced thermotropic behaviors compared to the unbound components. The enhancement of liquid crystallinity for Complex 11 is explainable by general consideration of soft interactions in low-MW mesogens. " More complex is the case of Complexes 12 and 3 that, due to discotic shape, can form columnar stacks. A close relationship between liquid crystallinity and columnar growth was anticipated.However, recent analysis showed that columnar growth of the folate tetramer receives only a minor contribution from contact forces. The large excluded volume effect of thin disks is the main driving force for liquid crystallinity and self-assembly.

A number of epidemiologic studies have examined the relationship between dietary folic acid and cancer or heart disease. It may be helpful to also consider choline intake as a confounding factor because folate and choline methyl donation can be interchangeable. 

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