Research paper
Folic Acid Supplementation in Postpolypectomy Patients in a Randomized Controlled Trial Increases Tissue Folate Concentrations and Reduces Aberrant DNA Biomarkers in Colonic Tissues Adjacent to the Former Polyp Site.
Study answer
What this study found
Folic acid supplementation improved colonocyte folate status and favorable folate-related DNA biomarkers in tissue adjacent to the former polyp site. In the active arm, adjacent-site colonocyte folate increased by 2.5 pg/10^5 cells versus 0.4 pg/10^5 cells with placebo (P = 0.045), global DNA hypomethylation fell from 1.7 ± 0.1 to 1.0 ± 0.1 (P < 0.001), and uracil misincorporation decreased by 0.5 ± 0.1 over time (P = 0.05), with a greater adjacent-site change than placebo (P = 0.05). Distal-site global DNA hypomethylation also improved with folic acid (P = 0.017), and no adverse events were…
- Study & population
- Randomized controlled trial conducted at a single Dublin hospital in adults with adenomatous colorectal polyps after polypectomy.
- Intervention
- Folic acid 600 mg/d was given for 6 months in the active treatment arm; the route and exact dosing frequency were not stated.
- Key limitation
- The trial was small, with only 12 participants in the folic acid arm and 8 in placebo, limiting precision and generalizability.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
BACKGROUND Low folate status is associated with an increased risk of colorectal carcinogenesis. Optimal folate status may be genoprotective by preventing uracil misincorporation into DNA and DNA hypomethylation. Adenomatous polyps have low folate sta…