E.L. Beckett
Reduced plasma homocysteine levels in elderly Australians following mandatory folic acid fortification – A comparison of two cross-sectional cohorts
Beckett, E.L.; Martin, C.; Boyd, L.; Porter, T.; King, K.; Niblett, S.; Yates, Z.; Veysey, M.; Lucock, M.
Authors
C. Martin
L. Boyd
T. Porter
K. King
S. Niblett
Z. Yates
M. Veysey
M. Lucock
Abstract
© 2017 Objective In 2009, Australia implemented mandatory folic acid fortification in wheat flour for bread-making. The primary aim was to improve folate status in reproductive-aged women to reduce neural tube defect incidence. However, folic acid consumption has consequently increased in all demographics. Blood folate is inversely associated with homocysteine levels, a risk factor for multiple diseases. Therefore, we assessed the impact of mandatory folic acid fortification on homocysteine levels in elderly Australians. Methods Homocysteine and blood folate levels were compared between two elderly cross-sectional cohorts (pre-versus post-mandatory folic acid fortification). Importantly, dietary habits were assessed to evaluate the confounding influence of altered dietary patterns not related to fortification. Results Post-fortification, plasma homocysteine levels (10.6 vs. 14.5 μmol/L) and hyperhomocysteinemia incidence (27.2% vs 56.3%) were significantly reduced, relative to the pre-fortification subjects. This was associated with increased blood folate (red cell: 1243 vs 1066 nmol/L, serum 28.0 vs 23.9 nmol/L), and increased intake of synthetic folic acid (366.8 vs 231.0 DFE/day) but not natural folate (332.7 vs 323.6 DFE/day). Limited other differences were detected in dietary intake patterns between groups. The positive relationship between homocysteine levels and age was abrogated post-fortification (p = 0.3 vs p = 0.0003). Conclusions A potential off-target benefit of mandatory folic acid fortification in Australia was demonstrated. With many countries still considering the merits and consequences of mandatory fortification policies, it is important to unravel the off-target effects including dietary context.
Citation
Beckett, E., Martin, C., Boyd, L., Porter, T., King, K., Niblett, S., Yates, Z., Veysey, M., & Lucock, M. (2017). Reduced plasma homocysteine levels in elderly Australians following mandatory folic acid fortification – A comparison of two cross-sectional cohorts. Journal of Nutrition and Intermediary Metabolism, 8, 14-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnim.2017.04.001
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Apr 4, 2017 |
Online Publication Date | Apr 6, 2017 |
Publication Date | Jun 1, 2017 |
Deposit Date | Aug 13, 2019 |
Publicly Available Date | Aug 13, 2019 |
Print ISSN | 2352-3859 |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 8 |
Pages | 14-20 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnim.2017.04.001 |
Keywords | Folate; Folic acid; Homocysteine; Mandatory fortification; Elderly |
Public URL | https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1932560 |
Publisher URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352385917300038?via%3Dihub |
Contract Date | Aug 13, 2019 |
Files
Article
(607 Kb)
PDF
Publisher Licence URL
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Copyright Statement
©2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
You might also like
Association between omega-3 index and blood lipids in older Australians
(2015)
Journal Article
Methylation diet and methyl group genetics in risk for adenomatous polyp occurrence
(2015)
Journal Article
Downloadable Citations
About Repository@Hull
Administrator e-mail: repository@hull.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2024
Advanced Search