Effects of folic acid supplementation on hyperhomocysteinemia in CAPD patients : Effects on unsaturated fatty acids

Hyperhomocysteinemia has been recognized as one of the risk factors for atherosclerosis and premature vascular disease. Patients on dialysis and end-stage renal disease also manifest high plasma concentrations of homocysteine. We performed this study to evaluate the effects of folic acid supplementa tion on hyperhomocysteinemia in CAPD patients. Twenty-three CAPD patients (8 males, 15 females, 49.1±14.2-years-old) dialyzed for 22.7±19.2 months participated in the study. Daily 5-mg doses of folic acid supplementation for 4 weeks significantly reduced plasma concentrations of total homocysteine (p < 0.01) and serine (p < 0.001) . This observation suggests that the reduction of plasma concentrations of total homocysteine results from activation of homocysteine remethylation to methionine. On the other hand, folic acid supplementation also revealed significant correlations between changes in serum concentrations of both dihomo-γ-linolenic acid and arachidonic acid and changes in plasma concentrations of total homocysteine (r = -0.517, p