Determinants of neural tube defect (NTD)-protective circulating concentrations of folate in women of child-bearing age in the US post-folic acid fortification era.

We evaluated folate status of child-bearing age women diagnosed with abnormal pap smear in the US post-folic acid (FA) fortification era and assessed the determinants of NTD-protective and supra-physiologic (SP) concentrations of folate. The distribution of 843 women according to NTD-protective concentrations of RBC folate, plasma folate and SP concentrations of plasma folate were tested in relation to demographic and life-style factors. Logistic regression models specified NTD-protective concentrations of RBC and plasma folate or SP concentrations of plasma folate as dependent variables and demographic and life-style factors as independent predictors of interest. More than 82% reached NTD-protective concentrations of RBC and plasma folate and ~30% reached SP concentrations of plasma folate. FA supplement use was associated with having SP concentrations of plasma folate rather than NTD-protective concentrations of folate. African American (AA) women and smokers were significantly less likely to achieve NTD-protective concentrations of RBC and plasma folate. A large majority of women reached NTD-protective concentrations of folate with the current level of FA fortification without using supplementary FA. Therefore, the remaining disparities in AA women and in smokers should be addressed by targeted individual improvements in folate intake.

IL-21 signaling is critical for the development of type I diabetes in the NOD mouse.

IL-21 is a pleiotropic type I cytokine that shares the common cytokine receptor gamma chain and plays important roles for normal Ig production, terminal B cell differentiation to plasma cells, and Th17 differentiation. IL-21 is elevated in several autoimmune diseases, and blocking its action has attenuated disease in MRL/lpr mice and in collagen-induced arthritis. The diabetes-associated Idd3 locus is at the Il2/Il21 locus, and elevated IL-21 was observed in the nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse and suggested to contribute to diabetes by augmenting T cell homeostatic proliferation. To determine the role of IL-21 in diabetes, Il21r-knockout (KO) mice were backcrossed to NOD mice. These mice were devoid of lymphocytic infiltration into the pancreas, and only 1 of 20 animals had an elevated glucose compared with 60% of NOD mice on a wild-type (WT) background. Although TCR and Treg-related responses were normal, these mice had reduced Th17 cells and significantly higher levels of mRNAs encoding members of the Reg (regenerating) gene family whose transgenic expression protects against diabetes. Our studies establish a critical role for IL-21 in the development of type I diabetes in the NOD mouse, with obvious potential implications for type I diabetes in humans.

A practical approach to red blood cell folate analysis.

The measurement of folate in red blood cells (RBCs) is preferred since it reflects long-term folate status in the body compared to plasma/serum folate which may be influenced by recent dietary intake. The commonly accepted technique for RBC folate analysis involves preparation of a hemolysate using a fresh whole blood sample. Hematocrit and plasma folate concentrations are needed to calculate RBC folate values. Because of the need for immediate access to a laboratory where processing can be performed, it may not be practical to assess RBC folate status using this method in field-based epidemiological studies. It is however, feasible to isolate packed RBSs from a blood sample under these conditions. The purpose of this study is to validate RBC folate analysis using packed red cells by comparing the RBC folate values obtained by hemolysate method (routine assay) with those obtained by using packed RBCs (new assay) in the same individuals (n = 50) using the folate microbiological assay. The correlation between plasma folate and the routine RBC folate assay (r = 0.58, p = 0.001) and the correlation between plasma folate and the new RBC folate assay was statistically significant (r = 0.55, p = 0.001). The correlation between RBC folate by the routine assay and new assay was also statistically significant (r = 0.78, p < 0.001). We conclude that measurement of folate in packed RBC is a practical approach in assessing long-term folate status in field-based and or larger scale epidemiological studies where an immediate access to a laboratory is unavailable for necessary sample processing for the routine RBC folate assay.