Additional food folate derived exclusively from natural sources improves folate status in young women with the MTHFR 677 CC or TT genotype

The effectiveness of additional food folate in improving folate status in humans is uncertain particularly in people with the common genetic variant (677 C-->T) in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene. To examine the effect of a doubling of food folate consumption on folate status response variables, women (n=32; 18-46 years) with the MTHFR 677 CC or TT genotype consumed either 400 (n=15; 7 CC and 8 TT) or 800 (n=17; 8 CC and 9 TT) microg/day of dietary folate equivalents (DFE) derived exclusively from naturally occurring food folate for 12 weeks. A repeated measures two-factor ANOVA was used to examine the effect of the dietary treatment, the MTHFR C677T genotype and their interactions on serum folate, RBC folate and plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) during the last 3 weeks of the study. Consumption of 800 microg DFE/day resulted in serum folate concentrations that were 67% (P=.005) higher than consumption of 400 microg DFE/day (18.6+/-2.9 vs. 31.0+/-2.7 nmol/L, respectively) and RBC folate concentrations that were 33% (P=.001) higher (1172+/-75 vs. 1559+/-70 nmol/L, respectively). Serum folate (P=.065) and RBC folate (P=.022) concentrations were lower and plasma tHcy was higher (P=.039) in women with the MTHFR 677 TT genotype relative to the CC genotype. However, no genotype by dietary treatment interaction was detected. These data suggest that a doubling of food folate intake will lead to marked improvements in folate status in women with the MTHFR 677 CC or TT genotype.