Nutrition and depression: focus on folate -
JE Alpert, D Mischoulon, AA Nierenberg, M Fava - Nutrition, 2000 - Elsevier
... Indeed, a previous study in rats yielded the ... We conclude that studies of low folate
and its ... neuropsychiatric disorders have provided intriguing clues about the ...

PERICONCEPTIONAL VITAMIN USE, DIETARY FOLATE, AND THE OCCURRENCE OF NEURAL TUBE DEFECTS. -
GM Shaw, D Schaffer, EM Velie, K Morland, JA … - Epidemiology, 1995 - JSTOR
... Etiologic heterogeneity of neural tube defects: clues from epidemiology ... Dietary folate
as a risk factor for neural ... evidence from a case-control study in Western ...

Neurodevelopmental Disorders after Prenatal Famine The Story of the Dutch Famine Study -
E Susser, HW Hoek, A Brown - American Journal of Epidemiology, 1998 - Oxford Univ Press
... clin- ical trials which demonstrated that folate supplemen- tation to ... data of the
Dutch Famine Study continue to yield potentially valuable clues as to the ...

Aging and Alzheimer's disease: lessons from the Nun Study -
DA Snowdon - The Gerontologist, 1997 - Geron Soc America
... in the Nun Study may provide unique clues about the ... KP Riley, and W. R Markesbery
Serum folate and the ... in Alzheimer disease: findings from the Nun Study Am. ...

Laboratory Diagnosis of Vitamin B12 and Folate Deficiency A Guide for the Primary Care Physician -
CF Snow - Archives of Internal Medicine, 1999 - Am Med Assoc
... In a study of 100 patients with an MCV ... had subnormal values of serum Cbl, erythrocyte
folate, or both ... a variety of smear findings may provide diagnostic clues. ...

Diagnostic clues to megaloblastic anaemia without macrocytosis -
CWJ CHAN, SYH LIU, CSB KHO, KHT LAU, YS LIANG, WR … - International Journal of Laboratory Hematology, 2007 - Blackwell Synergy
... In the study, peripheral blood smears of all ... HN in peripheral blood constitutes another
important clue to underlying ... due to vitamin B 12 /folate deficiency can ...

Investigation of factors influencing folate status in women who have had a neural tube defect- … -
J Wild, CJ Schorah, TA Sheldon, RW Smithells - BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 1993 - Blackwell Synergy
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Council Vitamin Study. ... supplementation on blood folate vitamin concentrations ...

… instability in non-neoplastic mucosa of patients with ulcerative colitis: effect of folate … -
ML Cravo, CM Albuquerque, LS de Sousa, LM Gloria, … - American Journal of Gastroenterology, 1998 - Blackwell Synergy
... in chronic ulcerative colitis: A case-control study. ... Folate status, DNA methylation
and colon cancer risk in ... Clues to the pathogenesis of familial colorectal ...

… Periconceptional Vitamin Use, Genetic Variation of Infant Reduced Folate Carrier (A80G), and Risk … -
GM Shaw, EJ Lammer, H Zhu, MW Baker, E Neri, RH … - American Journal of Medical Genetics, 2002 - doi.wiley.com
... in- vestigating these genes to reveal clues about genetic ... evidence exists for the
other folate transport gene ... This study explored whether an interaction existed ...

Dietary Folate and Nonneural Midline Birth Defects
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FRIDAY, Dec. 1 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. researchers say they've identified the mechanism by which the intestinal tract absorbs the B vitamin folate from food.

A team at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, found that a protein called PCFT/HCP1 transports folate molecules from matter in the small intestine into intestinal cells.

They also found that a mutation in the PCFT/HCP1 gene causes hereditary folate malabsorption, a rare but potentially fatal disorder. Infants born with this disorder must be given high doses of folate in order to prevent severe anemia and neurological problems.

The study is published in the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Cell.

The researchers said their findings solve the mystery of how the body absorbs folate from foods and pave the way to a genetic test to quickly identify and treat infants who are unable to absorb folate, which is also called folic acid.

"We can't live without folate," study senior author Dr. I. David Goldman, director of the Albert Einstein Cancer Center, said in a prepared statement.

"Adequate folate in our diet -- and our small intestine's ability to absorb it -- is crucial for synthesizing DNA and other important constituents of our bodies. Folate deficiency in the developing embryo can cause developmental nervous-system defects such as spina bifida. After birth, infants with folate deficiency can experience anemia, immune deficiency with severe infections, and neurological defects such as seizures and mental retardation. And in adults, folate deficiency has been associated with an increased risk of certain cancers," Goldman said.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about folate.

Combination Therapy Eases Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

December 1, 2006 08:41:22 PM PST

FRIDAY, Dec. 1 (HealthDay News) -- A combination therapy of two drugs -- inhaled iloprost and bosentan -- appears to improve the condition of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a debilitating and potentially fatal disease characterized by a progressive narrowing of blood vessels in the lungs.

Dr. Vallerie V. McLaughlin, of the University of Michigan Medical Center, and nine colleagues studied 65 PAH patients who were being treated with bosentan, an endothelin receptor antagonist that helps boost blood flow in the lungs.

Of those patients, 32 were selected to receive inhaled iloprost (a prostacyclin analog) along with bosentan, while the remainder took a placebo and bosentan.

By the end of the 12-week study, all the patients who received the bosentan-iloprost therapy were able to walk 98 feet further during a six-minute walk test, and 11 of them showed improvement in a measurement of how severely they were affected by PAH.

In addition, none of the patients who received the bosentan-iloprost therapy experienced clinical deterioration over the course of the study.

The findings are published in the first issue for December of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Symptoms of PAH, which has no known cause, include shortness of breath following exercise, excessive fatigue, weakness, dizziness and fainting. The symptoms tend to grow worse over time.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about PAH.