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Updated: Aug 25, 2026

Assessing Endothelial Vasodilator Function with the Endo-PAT 2000
Published on: October 15, 2010
Folic acid improves endothelial function in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes
Alexia Sophie Peña1, Esko Wiltshire, Roger Gent
1Department of Endocrinology, University of Adelaide, Women's and Children's Hospital, 72 King William Road, North Adelaide, South Australia 5006, Australia. alexia.pena@adelaide.edu.au
Objective:
To evaluate the effect of folate supplementation on endothelial function in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.
Study Design:
Thirty-six subjects with type 1 diabetes age 13.6+/-2.6 years completed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial. Each subject received 8 weeks of oral folic acid (5 mg/d) and 8 weeks of placebo, with an 8-week washout period. Before and after each intervention, we assessed endothelial function by using brachial artery responses to flow (flow-mediated dilatation [FMD]) and glyceryl trinitrate, von Willebrand factor, glucose, hemoglobin A1c, total plasma homocyst(e)ine (tHcy), vitamin B(12), serum folate, and red cell folate (RCF).
Results:
Folic acid increased FMD by 2.58 (3.1-5.7) % (95% confidence interval, 1.28-3.88), whereas placebo did not change FMD (-0.42%; 95% confidence interval, -1.67 to 0.83; P<.001). Folic acid increased serum folate by 14 nmol/L (6.2 ng/mL, P<.001) and RCF by 467.2 nmol/L (206 ng/mL, P<.001). Change in FMD was related to change in serum folate (r=0.46, P=.005) and RCF (r=0.39, P=.02). Glyceryl trinitrate responses, von Willebrand factor, tHcy, and hemoglobin A1c were not affected by the intervention.
Conclusions:
Short-term high-dose folic acid improves endothelial function in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes and normal folate status independently of tHcy.
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