"Folate Stabilizes DNA" might sound a little abstract, but DNA fragmentation has been linked to cancer development.1 As well, previous research has shown that folate deficiency may increase the risk of a variety of types of cancers including breast, lung, pancreatic, and colorectal. Researchers at the University of Sheffield in England examined the effects of supplemental folic acid on markers of genomic stability. The results of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study were published in the June 15th issue of the British Journal of Cancer.
The researchers did baseline studies on 61 healthy volunteers to establish red blood cell folate levels in association with uracil misincoporation, DNA strand breakage, global DNA methylation, and DNA base excision repair. It should be noted that the subjects in this study were not folate deficient (deficiency defined as red cell folate levels less than 200 nanomoles per liter); all subjects had red cell folate levels in the normal range of 250 to 650 nanomoles per liter. Researchers found a significant inverse association between uracil misincorporation in lymphocyte DNA and red cell folate levels. That is, lower folate levels were correlated with higher uracil misincorporation in lymphocyte DNA. Then to see if folate made a difference, the test subjects where given 1.2 mg of folic acid per day for 12 weeks. Subsequent tests showed that the folic acid supplementation increased red cell folate levels. Tests also showed a significant reduction in uracil misincorporation, but no change in DNA strand breakage or global DNA methylation. (Uracil pairs with adenine in RNA, but is replaced by thymine in DNA. When this translation fails, a DNA base excision repair occurs and the DNA is fragmented, which has been associated with cancer development.) The researchers concluded that uracil misincorporation was more sensitive to changes in folate levels than other indicators of genomic stability, and "therefore could be considered a specific and functional marker of folate status, which may also be relevant to cancer risk in healthy people." Thus it follows that taking supplemental folic acid, which raises in vivo folate levels, seems to stablizes DNA, which may in turn lower the risk of certain types of cancer.
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1. Basten, G. P., S. J. Duthie, et al. (2006). "Sensitivity of markers of DNA stability and DNA repair activity to folate supplementation in healthy volunteers." Br J Cancer 94(12): 1942-7.
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