QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 139/5/1037    most recent jn.108.102475v1 Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Berrocal-Zaragoza, M. I. Articles by Fernandez-Ballart, J. D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Berrocal-Zaragoza, M. I. Articles by Fernandez-Ballart, J. D.

---

Nutritional Immunology

High Milk Consumers Have an Increased Risk of Folate Receptor Blocking Autoantibody Production but This Does Not Affect Folate Status in Spanish Men and Women^1,2

³ Area of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and ⁴ Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere i Virgili, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43201 Tarragona, Spain; ⁵ Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CB06/03), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain; ⁶ Àrea Bàsica de Salut El Morell, Institut Català de la Salut, 43760 Tarragona, Spain; and ⁷ Department of Medicine/Cell Biology, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203

Folate receptor (FR)-blocking autoantibodies (FR-autoantibodies) have been reported in women with neural tube defect-affected pregnancies and subfertility and in children with progressive neurodevelopment disorders. We investigated their prevalence and association with folate status and milk intake in adults unexposed to folic acid fortification. A cross-sectional study of a randomly selected representative sample of a Spanish population (aged 18–75 y) stratified by age and gender was performed. Plasma and red cell folate, plasma cobalamin, fasting plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) concentration, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism, and FR-autoantibody titer were determined in blood samples from 787 fasting participants. Lifestyle data were collected and milk intake estimated from a 3-d dietary record. FR-autoantibody prevalence was 7.2% [0.30 ± 0.27 nmol (mean ± SD) FR blocked/L], equally affecting men and women of all ages. Plasma and red cell folate and tHcy did not differ between carriers and noncarriers of FR-autoantibodies. Milk intake was higher in carriers (225 ± 199 g/d) than in noncarriers (199 ± 147 g/d) (P < 0.01). The risk of having FR-autoantibodies increased progressively with increasing quintile of milk intake and was significant in the highest quintile (307 g/d) compared with the lowest (67 g/d) [odds ratio (OR), 2.41 [95% CI: 1.02, 5.69]; P < 0.05; linear trend, P = 0.02]. We concluded that FR-autoantibodies occur in men and women of all ages and do not affect indicators of folate status such as plasma and red cell folate and tHcy. Higher milk intake is associated with increased risk of having FR-autoantibodies.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: michelle.murphy{at}urv.cat.

Manuscript received 20 November 2008. Initial review completed 1 January 2009. Revision accepted 9 February 2009.

Published online 12 March 2009.