The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 127 No. 12 December 1997, pp. 2363-2370
Copyright ©1997 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

Folate Status Response to Controlled Folate Intake in Pregnant Women

Marie A. Caudill, Amelia C. Cruz^*, Jesse F. Gregory III, Alan D. Hutson, and and Lynn B. Bailey

Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, ^* Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and  Division of Biostatistics, Department of Statistics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610

A metabolic study (84-d) was conducted to investigate the folate status response of pregnant subjects (n = 12) during their second trimester and nonpregnant controls (n = 12) to folate intakes approximating the current (400 µg/d) and former (800 µg/d) recommended dietary allowance (RDA). The overall goal of the study was to provide metabolic data to assist in the interpretation of the current RDA for folate. Subjects were fed a controlled diet containing 120 ± 15 µg/d (mean ± SD) folate and either 330 or 730 µg/d synthetic folic acid. Outcome variables between and within supplementation groups were compared at steady state. Serum folate was higher (P  0.05) in pregnant women consuming 850 compared with 450 µg/d (44.6 ± 13.4, 26.3 ± 11.3 nmol/L, respectively, mean ± SD). No differences (P > 0.05) were detected in serum folate between pregnant and nonpregnant women within the same supplementation group. Urinary 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate excretion was greater (P  0.05) in pregnant women consuming 850 compared with 450 µg/d (198.0 ± 100.4, 9.5 ± 3.2 nmol/d, respectively). No differences (P > 0.05) in 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate excretion were detected between pregnant and nonpregnant women within supplementation groups. Differences (P  0.05) were not detected in red cell folate between pregnant women consuming either 450 or 850 µg/d (1452.5 ± 251.8, 1733.5 ± 208.5 nmol/L, respectively) or between pregnant and nonpregnant women consuming 450 µg/d. Our data suggest that 450 µg/d (dietary folate + synthetic folic acid) is sufficient to maintain folate status in pregnant women. This level of intake equates to ~600 µg/d dietary equivalents, assuming 50 and 75% availability of dietary folate and synthetic folic acid consumed with meals, respectively.

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