title: Folic acid deficiency in intensive care patients: comparison between two regimens of supplementation.
abstract: Serum folic acid (SFA) and red blood cell folic acid (RbcFA) levels were determined in 40 patients on the day of admission to our intensive care unit (ICU, D0). 65% of the patients had low SFA (< 3,4 ng/ml) and 27.5% had low RbcFA (< 275 ng/ml)L. Twenty-four hours later (Day 1:D1), both SFA and RbcFA had decreased significantly (respectively 0.49 ng/ml and 21 ng/ml, p < 0.01) in the 40 patients; the magnitude of RbcFA decrease was greater in patients with sepsis than in those without sepsis (p < 0.02). SFA and RbcFA levels were significantly lower in patients with sepsis on D0 and D1. Forty-two other patients with documented hypofolatemia were then randomly allocated to two regimens of FA supplementation. Patients on regimen A had an intravenous injection of 0.5 mg folinic acid daily for ten days whereas patients on regimen B received a single 5 mg intravenous injection of FA on day 1. Both regimens increased significantly SFA and RbcFA levels. But regimen A should be recommended because 1) RbcFA levels were significantly higher than with regimen B (p < 0.05) and 2) the mean increase was higher, particularly in patients with initial sepsis (p < 0.01).
authors.affiliation: Service de Réanimation Médicale et Urgences, France.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Boles
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Garo
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Morin
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Garre