%0 Journal Article
%T Plasma folate levels are associated with the lipoprotein profile: a retrospective database analysis
%A Alexander Semmler
%A Susanna Moskau
%A Andreas Grigull
%A Susan Farmand
%A Thomas Klockgether
%A Yvo Smulders
%A Henk Blom
%A Bernd Zur
%A Birgit Stoffel-Wagner
%A Michael Linnebank
%J Nutrition Journal
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1475-2891-9-31
%X In a retrospective single center approach, we analyzed the laboratory database (2003-2006) of the University Hospital Bonn, Germany, including 1743 individuals, in whom vitamin B12, folate and at least one lipoprotein parameter had been determined by linear multilogistic regression.Higher folate serum levels were associated with lower serum levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C; Beta = -0.164; p < 0.001), higher levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C; Beta = 0.094; p = 0.021 for trend) and a lower LDL-C-C/HDL-C-ratio (Beta = -0.210; p < 0.001). Using ANOVA, we additionally compared the individuals of the highest with those of the lowest quartile of folate. Individuals of the highest folate quartile had higher levels of HDL-C (1.42 ¡À 0.44 mmol/l vs. 1.26 ¡À 0.47 mmol/l; p = 0.005), lower levels of LDL-C (3.21 ¡À 1.04 mmol/l vs. 3.67 ¡À 1.10 mmol/l; p = 0.001) and a lower LDL-C/HDL-C- ratio (2.47 ¡À 1.18 vs. 3.77 ¡À 5.29; p = 0.002). Vitamin B12 was not associated with the lipoprotein profile.In our study sample, high folate levels were associated with a favorable lipoprotein profile. A reconfirmation of these results in a different study population with a well defined status of health, diet and medication is warranted.Increased homocysteine (Hcys) levels and altered plasma lipid levels are generally considered to be independent risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, lifestyle and nutrition may cause a coincidence of the homocysteine and lipoprotein status. Although of potential clinical and scientific relevance such a relationship is not generally acknowledged.Recent studies have already described an inverse relationship between folate and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and low folate levels have therefore been suggested to be a cardiovascular risk factor and that the subjects with lower folate levels should be recommended for dietary folic acid supplementation to HDL-C levels [1,2].Sev
%U http://www.nutritionj.com/content/9/1/31