Unraveling folate deficiency: prevalence, biochemical associations, genetic determinants, and strategies for adolescent health in North India.

IF 3.6 3区医学 Q2 NUTRITION & DIETETICS

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition Pub Date : 2025-05-14 DOI:10.1038/s41430-025-01627-9

Janaki M Nair, Shraddha Chakraborty, Khanmi Kasomva, Ganesh Chauhan, Sandeep Mathur, Analabha Basu, Nikhil Tandon, Dwaipayan Bharadwaj

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Micronutrient deficiency is a global public health concern, especially among the adolescents of developing countries including India. Folate, an essential B-vitamin plays an indispensable role in various physiological processes throughout life. This is a cross-sectional study to determine prevalence of folate insufficiency among North-Indian school-going adolescents of various socio-economic backgrounds.

Methods: A total of 3129 healthy school-going adolescents from North India were selected for the study and circulatory folate levels were measured using an electrochemiluminescence assay. Relationship of circulatory folate with various biochemical and anthropometric parameters were evaluated. Genetic determinants of folate levels in the study population were explored via both genome-wide and exome-wide association studies.

Results: Our results indicate higher prevalence (41%) of folate insufficiency in urban adolescents attending government-funded schools, with distinct relationship of folate levels, biochemical parameters, and anthropometric traits with varied socioeconomic strata. Girls exhibited a higher percentage of folate insufficiency than their male contemporaries. Results from genome-wide association study indicate significant associations of MYO1B (p = 5.13 × 10^-7), CDH9 (p = 5.36 × 10^-7), and PANK3 (p = 6.66 × 10^-7) genes with folate levels in adolescents. Single variant analysis from exome-wide association analysis reaffirms the association of a previously reported variant in MTHFR gene (rs1801133; p = 1.87 × 10^-6) along with identification of novel missense variants in KRT7 (rs2608009; p = 2.16 × 10^-6 and rs6580870; p = 9.49 × 10^-6) and AK9 (rs1406957; p = 4.76 × 10^-6) genes.

Conclusions: Our study highlights the importance of large-scale studies on prevalence of folate insufficiency and nutrigenomic regulation of folate levels in Indian population. Implementing multifaceted measures including food fortification, dietary diversification and health education in adolescents is crucial to combat folate deficiency in developing nations like India.

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解开叶酸缺乏症：患病率，生化关联，遗传决定因素，和策略的青少年健康在北印度。

背景：微量营养素缺乏是一个全球性的公共卫生问题，特别是在包括印度在内的发展中国家的青少年中。叶酸是一种必需的b族维生素，在生命的各种生理过程中起着不可或缺的作用。这是一项横断面研究，旨在确定不同社会经济背景的北印度学龄青少年中叶酸不足的患病率。方法：选取来自印度北部的3129名健康学龄青少年作为研究对象，采用电化学发光法测定循环叶酸水平。评价循环叶酸与各种生化和人体测量参数的关系。研究人群中叶酸水平的遗传决定因素通过全基因组和全外显子组关联研究进行了探讨。结果：我们的研究结果表明，在公办学校就读的城市青少年中，叶酸缺乏的患病率较高（41%），叶酸水平、生化参数和人体测量特征与不同的社会经济阶层有明显的关系。与同龄男性相比，女孩叶酸不足的比例更高。全基因组关联研究结果显示，MYO1B （p = 5.13 × 10-7）、CDH9 （p = 5.36 × 10-7）和PANK3 （p = 6.66 × 10-7）基因与青少年叶酸水平存在显著相关性。外显子组关联分析的单变异分析再次证实了先前报道的MTHFR基因变异(rs1801133；p = 1.87 × 10-6)以及KRT7 (rs2608009；P = 2.16 × 10-6, rs6580870；p = 9.49 × 10-6)和AK9 (rs1406957；P = 4.76 × 10-6)基因。结论：我们的研究强调了大规模研究叶酸不足患病率和叶酸水平营养基因组调节在印度人群中的重要性。在印度等发展中国家，实施包括食品强化、饮食多样化和青少年健康教育在内的多方面措施对于解决叶酸缺乏症至关重要。

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来源期刊

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 医学-营养学

CiteScore

10.60

自引率

2.10%

发文量

189

审稿时长

3-6 weeks

期刊介绍： The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (EJCN) is an international, peer-reviewed journal covering all aspects of human and clinical nutrition. The journal welcomes original research, reviews, case reports and brief communications based on clinical, metabolic and epidemiological studies that describe methodologies, mechanisms, associations and benefits of nutritional interventions for clinical disease and health promotion. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: Nutrition and Health (including climate and ecological aspects) Metabolism & Metabolomics Genomics and personalized strategies in nutrition Nutrition during the early life cycle Health issues and nutrition in the elderly Phenotyping in clinical nutrition Nutrition in acute and chronic diseases The double burden of ''malnutrition'': Under-nutrition and Obesity Prevention of Non Communicable Diseases (NCD)