The effect of race and supplementation on maternal and umbilical cord plasma folates

Objective: The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that race and supplementation affect the concentration and correlation of various folate species in maternal and umbilical cord blood. Methods: This is a single-center, prospective, cross-sectional cohort of cord blood samples obtained from 40 uncomplicated term pregnancies as a pilot study, following a protocol approved by the Institutional Review Board. High performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry quantitated the following concentrations in extracted plasma samples: 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5MTHF), 5,10-methenyl-tetrahydrofolate (5,10-MeTHF), tetrahydrofolate (THF), and unmetabolized folic acid. Results: Folate concentrations in the umbilical cord plasma were consistently higher than maternal samples for 5MTHF (p?

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the effects of race and supplementation on the concentration and correlation of various folate species in maternal and umbilical cord blood. Results showed that folate concentrations in umbilical cord plasma were consistently higher than maternal samples, particularly for 5MTHF.