News

Assessing the risk of excess folic acid intake

Ana Maria Rodriguez
By Ana Maria Rodriguez
March 18, 2023

It is well established that folic acid supplementation can significantly reduce the risk of birth defects, including neural tube defects like spina bifida, the most common birth defect of the central nervous system and the second most common of all structural birth defects. More than 80 nations, including the U.S. 25 years ago, have established mandated folic acid food fortification programs, which have been successful.

“However, there is a lack of research on whether excessive folic acid intake has the potential to harm human beings,” said co-corresponding author, Dr. Richard H. Finnell, William T. Butler, M.D., Distinguished Chair Professor in the Center for Precision Environmental Health and the departments of molecular and cellular biologymolecular and human genetics and medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

There are reports of adverse effects associated with high folate intake in humans. In this study published in the journal Cell Discovery, Finnell and his colleagues investigated in an animal model the potential effect of folic acid supplementation on DNA mutation rates and other genetic modifications such as whole genome methylation, which can change how much of any given gene product gets expressed in cells.

The animals received one of three folic-acid-supplemented diets: folic acid low, folic acid control and folic acid high. “Compared to the mutation frequency of the folic acid-control diet group, that of the folic acid-low diet group increased two-fold and the folic acid-high diet group increased 1.8 fold,” Finnell said.

The researchers found that DNA repair genes were significantly hypermethylated in the folic acid-high diet, suggesting that excess folic acid supplementation may affect the mutation rate by reducing the expression of DNA repair genes and consequently impairing DNA repair activity. Understanding these mechanisms requires further investigation.

“The effects of high- or low-folic acid diets should be confirmed in human population in future studies,” Finnell said. “Our data supports that folic acid supplementation should be restricted to an ideal benefit range. What we have here is a “Goldilocks Effect”: Too little or too much of a good thing (folic acid) may not be such a good thing.”

This article first appeared on the Baylor College of Medicine news site. Read the original.

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.

Learn more
Ana Maria Rodriguez
Ana Maria Rodriguez

Ana Maria Rodriguez is lead science writer at Baylor College of Medicine. She is the editor of From the Labs, Baylor’s science blog spotlighting the newest and most interesting research information from the bench at the College, and one of its main contributors.

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in Science

Science highlights or most popular articles

Computational tool helps scientists create novel bug sprays
Journal News

Computational tool helps scientists create novel bug sprays

May 20, 2025

Rapid discovery of mosquito repellent compounds is enabled through a novel screening platform that combines both computational modeling and functional screening.

Meet Lan Huang
Interview

Meet Lan Huang

May 19, 2025

Molecular & Cellular Proteomics associate editor uses crosslinking mass spec to study protein–protein interactions to find novel therapeutics.

Influenza gets help from gum disease bacteria
Journal News

Influenza gets help from gum disease bacteria

May 15, 2025

Scientists discover that a protease from Porphyromonas gingivalis enhances viral spread. Read more about this recent Journal of Biological Chemistry paper.

How bacteria fight back against promising antimicrobial peptide
Journal News

How bacteria fight back against promising antimicrobial peptide

May 15, 2025

Researchers find a mutation in E. coli that reduces its susceptibility to a potential novel antibiotic. Read more about this recent Journal of Biological Chemistry paper.

New clues reveal how cells respond to stress
Journal News

New clues reveal how cells respond to stress

May 15, 2025

Redox signaling protein may help regulate inflammasome and innate immune activation. Read more about this recent Journal of Biological Chemistry paper.

Innovative platform empowers scientists to transform venoms into therapeutics
Journal News

Innovative platform empowers scientists to transform venoms into therapeutics

May 13, 2025

Scientists combine phage display and a “metavenome” library to discover new drugs that bind clinically relevant human cell receptors. Read about this recent Molecular & Cellular Proteomics paper.