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Dietary Folate and Human Health

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2019) | Viewed by 5442

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Biomedicine–Unit of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Al. Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
2. CINTESIS@RISE, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Interests: nutrition; metabolism; pregnancy; fetal programing; micronutrientes
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Guest Editor
Faculdade de Ciências Médicas|NOVA Medical School, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1169-056 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: diet; metabolism; obesity; microbiota; endocrine disruptors; phenolic compounds
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Unit of Biochemistry, Department of Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Interests: transmembrane transport mechanisms; epithelial transport of organic compounds; plasma membrane transport of nutrients in cancer cells; modulation of membrane transport by xenobiotics; changes in membrane transport in pathological conditions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Folate, a group of essential micronutrients, is a key player in cellular one carbon metabolism being thus critical for the synthesis of several amino acids, of nitrogen bases for nucleotide synthesis, and for the provision of the universal methyl donor, S-adenosyl-methionine. Cell division, catecholamine metabolism, and epigenetic regulation of gene expression are major functions affected by folate availability.

Folate deficiency is one of the most common vitamin deficiencies in the western world since it can result from a diversity of factors and conditions, such as poor folate sources intake, intestinal malabsorption, intestinal dysbiosis, drug interaction or increased needs as observed in pregnancy, neonatal growth and cancer. Concomitantly, folate deficiency is known to increase the risk of a series of conditions or diseases, including, but not limited to, cardiovascular disease, stroke, mental diseases, cancer and neural tube defects.

Fortification of staple foods with folate and clinical supplementation with folate emerged from bright scientific evidence showing a protective effect of folate supplementation against neural tube defect recurrence or first occurrence.

Nevertheless, unambiguous evidence of folate supplementation safety at high doses or benefits on cardiovascular disease or dementia is still largely lacking.

This Special Issue aims to gather scientific updates about the role of dietary folate in human health, the role of folate as an epigenetic modifier, dietary folate availability, transport and metabolism, analytical methodologies for folate quantification (in food matrices and in biological samples), nutrition policies regarding folates and medical guidelines for folate supplementation in pregnancy worldwide. Contributions may take the form of original articles or reviews of the literature, systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Prof. Elisa Keating
Prof. Conceição Calhau
Prof. Fátima Martel
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Folate
  • Folic acid
  • Methyl-nutrient
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Pregnancy
  • Fetal programming
  • Nutrition policy
  • Epigenetic mechanisms
  • Cancer

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

16 pages, 1535 KiB  
Review
Renal Reabsorption of Folates: Pharmacological and Toxicological Snapshots
by Sophia L Samodelov, Zhibo Gai, Gerd A Kullak-Ublick and Michele Visentin
Nutrients 2019, 11(10), 2353; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11102353 - 02 Oct 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4981
Abstract
Folates are water-soluble B9 vitamins that serve as one-carbon donors in the de novo synthesis of thymidylate and purines, and in the conversion of homocysteine to methionine. Due to their key roles in nucleic acid synthesis and in DNA methylation, inhibiting the folate [...] Read more.
Folates are water-soluble B9 vitamins that serve as one-carbon donors in the de novo synthesis of thymidylate and purines, and in the conversion of homocysteine to methionine. Due to their key roles in nucleic acid synthesis and in DNA methylation, inhibiting the folate pathway is still one of the most efficient approaches for the treatment of several tumors. Methotrexate and pemetrexed are the most prescribed antifolates and are mainly used in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, osteosarcoma, and lung cancers. Normal levels of folates in the blood are maintained not only by proper dietary intake and intestinal absorption, but also by an efficient renal reabsorption that seems to be primarily mediated by the glycosylphosphatidylinositol- (GPI) anchored protein folate receptor α (FRα), which is highly expressed at the brush-border membrane of proximal tubule cells. Folate deficiency due to malnutrition, impaired intestinal absorption or increased urinary elimination is associated with severe hematological and neurological deficits. This review describes the role of the kidneys in folate homeostasis, the molecular basis of folate handling by the kidneys, and the use of high dose folic acid as a model of acute kidney injury. Finally, we provide an overview on the development of folate-based compounds and their possible therapeutic potential and toxicological ramifications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Folate and Human Health)
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