title: Lower folate levels in schizophrenia: A meta-analysis.
abstract: This meta-analysis aimed to estimate the association between folate level and schizophrenia in order to provide the evidence for the treatment of schizophrenia. Data were extracted from all the studies meeting our inclusion and exclusion criteria. The association between the folate level and schizophrenia was evaluated by the standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI). The 20 published articles of our meta-analysis included 1463 (53.4%) cases and 1276 (46.6%) controls. The folate level was significantly lower in schizophrenia cases than in healthy controls. Subgroup analysis showed the folate level was lower in cases from Asia subgroup than in healthy controls. Sensitivity analysis showed that the current results were credible and reliable and the funnel plots indicated no publication bias in our meta-analysis. Our study indicates that schizophrenia patients may have lower folate levels. More epidemiological and laboratory studies are still needed to confirm whether it is necessary to supplement folate in schizophrenia patients.
authors: School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China.
authors: Bing
authors: B
authors: Cao
authors: School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China.
authors: Dong-Fang
authors: DF
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Nutrition, Aerospace Center Hospital, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors: Mei-Yan
authors: MY
authors: Xu
authors: School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China.
authors: Ya-Qiong
authors: YQ
authors: Liu
authors: School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China.
authors: Lai-Lai
authors: LL
authors: Yan
authors: School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China. Electronic address: wjy@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Jing-Yu
authors: JY
authors: Wang
authors: School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China. Electronic address: qingbinlu@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Qing-Bin
authors: QB
authors: Lu
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000097:blood*; D005494:Folic Acid Deficiency / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
chemical_list: D005492:Folic Acid
keywords: Case-control study; Folate; Psychotic disorders; Subgroup analysis