Enhancing Folic Acid Dietary Intervention Research in Mouse Models

Folic acid is associated with both beneficial and potentially adverse effects. Characterization of safe and adequate FA intakes is important. Animal-derived data play an important role in the elucidation of the mechanisms linked to FA intake. However, poor reporting of study details hinders knowledge translation. My first study was a scoping review to determine the reporting quality of studies examining the effects of dietary FA interventions in mice. Our findings showed that 14% of studies did not report ≥1 generic reporting item(s) and 41% did not report ≥1 nutrition- specific reporting item(s). This incomplete reporting limits generalizability and interpretation. The second study was designed to establish biomarkers of FA intake and function in mice. I identified homocysteine concentration ≥ 3.88 umol/L as a functional marker of deficiency and unmetabolized FA concentrations ≥ 7.71 nmol/L as a marker of excess FA intake. These observations can inform future study designs.