Researchers Explore Link Between Folic Acid and Food Allergies

06 Jun 2017 --- The newly closed congress on One Carbon Metabolism and its link with Folate, SAMe and Glutathione - ICHOCM 2017 - has offered new thoughts about the role of folic acid supplementation in pregnancy and its implications in food allergies outcome in children. The increased prevalence of childhood allergic diseases has been well-documented from the 1990s on, but the reasons for this increase are largely unknown. Current evidence points to a multifactorial etiology with a complex genetic predisposition, interacting with key environmental factors, including dietary changes.

At ICHOCM, notable findings have been presented by Dr. Emily C. McGowan et al. (University of Virginia School of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Charlottesville, VA) on the hypothesis that the increased food allergy prevalence observed in recent years may be due to changes in nutrition, including increased exposure to unmetabolized folic acid through folic acid fortification and supplement use. The results have been included in The Abstracts Book of the Congress.

The nested case-control study was performed in the Boston Birth Cohort and examined 
1) the total folate in maternal plasma at delivery 
2) 5-MTHF (methyltetrahydrofolate) and Unmetabolized Folic Acid (UMFA) in cord blood, in the study reported as PGA-pteroylmonoglutamate. A total of 502 children were included in this study and followed at 6-9 months, 1-2 years and 3-4 years. Food-specific IgE (sIgE) was measured to common food allergens such as egg, milk, peanut, soy, wheat, walnut, shrimp and sesame. 

The results report that 193 children (38%) had food sensitization (FS) and 33 (6.6%) had a food allergy (FA). 
Mean total folate, 5-MTHF, and PGA levels did not differ between those with and without FS but mean cord blood PGA levels were significantly higher in those who later developed FA.