OR-05 - IRON BIOAVAILABILITY OF CAROTENOIDS AND IRON ENHANCED CONTENT CROPS

The mean of age was 46.2 y (95% CI: 44.4-47.9), and women accounted for 58.1% of the study population. Only 2.2% of population had serum folate <6.8pmol/ml (3ng/ml), cut-off of deficiency. Circulating FA was detected in 80% of the population with a mean concentration of 2.29pmol/ml (95% CI: 1.92-2.65) in men and 2.19pmol/ml (95% CI: 1.95-2.47) in women. Significant effects of female (p<0.02), age (p<0.001), total folate (p=0.001), homozygotes for the deletion in DHFR (p=0.035) and vitamin B6 (p=0.001) were found in GLM. An increase of one pmol/ml in folate was associated with increased of 1.46% in circulating FA considering fixed effects of all others variables in the GLM. CONCLUSIONS Higher levels of folate are associated with higher levels of circulating FA. The finds point the mandatory fortification with folic acid has resulted in high exposure to circulating FA. There is growing experimental evidence that higher circulating folate levels can contribute to adverse effects. Further research is needed to elucidate these complex relationships, and to guarantee the safety of exposure to folic acid. FAPESP - 2010/19899-5