Having a healthy baby is the wish of every family, and many women who are trying to conceive know that folic acid supplementation is necessary in advance, but do you know how to supplement more effectively and safely?Have you ever heard of the "folate metabolism gene" that can accurately guide folic acid supplementation?Dr. Gong Chen, from the Genetics and Reproduction Center of Shunyi Women's and Children's Hospital, Beijing Children's Hospital, will explain your doubts below.
What is Folic Acid?
Folic acid is a water-soluble vitamin, also known as vitamin B9, which is necessary for cell growth and reproduction, and cannot be synthesized in the human body, but can only be ingested exogenously. Foods such as dark green vegetables, citrus fruits, legumes, nuts, animal liver, lean meats, etc., are rich in natural folic acid, but due to factors such as storage and cooking, the bioavailability is low.
Folic acid plays a key role in DNA synthesis and repair, affecting sperm, egg and embryo quality. Neural tube differentiation occurs in the 3rd to 4th week after conception, when folate deficiency can cause fetal malformations and neural tube development defects. Therefore, it is particularly important to start folic acid supplementation before pregnancy, especially for women who have had embryonic termination and biochemical pregnancy. Folic acid deficiency during pregnancy also increases the risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, anemia, preeclampsia, and other diseases.
How is folic acid metabolized in the human body?
After folic acid is ingested into the body, it is converted into the form of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (commonly known as "active folate") under the action of various enzymes in order to be effectively used. Due to related gene mutations, the activity of enzymes involved in folate metabolism decreases, the ability to utilize folic acid is poor, and the production of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate is reduced. To make matters worse, the disorder can also increase homocysteine (HCY) levels. HCY can damage the cells lining the blood vessels, easily form thrombosis, lead to placental hypoperfusion, embryonic ischemia and hypoxia and stop gerle, increase the risk of miscarriage, just like plants lack nutrients and water and apoptosis. For non-pregnant people, high HCY can lead to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, which can be life-threatening in severe cases.
Is folic acid supplementation accurate?How to detect?
The Center of Genetics and Reproduction of our hospital integrates outpatient and testing, which can quickly and accurately detect the level of red blood cell folic acid and genes related to metabolic disorders, reflect the nutritional status of folic acid in the past 3 months, and provide patients with accurate supplementation programs. Folic acid supplementation should be increased when there is a history of neural tube defects, fetal birth defects, and high HCY levels, such as diabetes, obesity, irregular diet, poor gastrointestinal absorption, and a history of neural tube defects. The suggested supplementary options are shown in the table below. And the genetic test results can be used for life, such as MTFR677 people can supplement folic acid for a long time to reduce the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
Reminder: Folic acid supplementation is not the same, more is better, if too much folic acid levels can mask potential dangers such as vitamin B12 deficiency in the body. When buying folic acid, the more expensive the better, and active folic acid is not suitable for everyone, blindly eating a bunch of unnecessary "nutrients, health products" is not only a waste of money, but also harmful to health. It should be scientifically supplemented under the guidance of a physician in combination with individual circumstances.
Text|Center for Genetics and Reproduction Gong Chen.