ArticleAdvances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.)2020
Perspective: Time to Resolve Confusion on Folate Amounts, Units, and Forms in Prenatal Supplements.
Article in Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Using 6S-5-methyltetrahydrofolate instead of folic acid in prenatal multivitamin reduces unmetabolized folic acid concentrations in the mother-fetus dyad: a 24-week randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Trial
- Serum Concentrations of Folate Forms Following Supplementation of Multimicronutrients with 400 µg or 800 µg Mix of (6S)-5-Methyltetrahydrofolate and Folic Acid (1:1) in Women of Childbearing Age.Molecular nutrition & food research · 2024Trial
- Human milk oligosaccharide composition following supplementation with folic acid vs (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid during pregnancy and mediation by human milk folate forms.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2024Trial
- Human milk unmetabolized folic acid is increased following supplementation with synthetic folic acid as compared to (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Strengthening Dietary Supplement Research: An Expanded Priority for the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Article
- Biological, dietetic and pharmacological properties of vitamin BNPJ science of food · 2025Review
- Pharmacokinetics of (6S)-5-Methyltetrahydrofolate dicholine salt compared to folic acid: a randomized double-blind single dose cross-over study.Food & nutrition research · 2025Article
- Folic Acid and Methyltetrahydrofolate Supplementation in theNutrients · 2024Article
- Disrupted Prenatal Metabolism May Explain the Etiology of Suboptimal Neurodevelopment: A Focus on Phthalates and Micronutrients and their Relationship to Autism Spectrum Disorder.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Review
- Maternal intake of folate and folic acid during pregnancy and markers of male fecundity: A population-based cohort study.Andrology · 2023Article
- Effect of Amino Acids on Folates Accumulation in Wheat Seedlings during Germination under Red Light Radiation.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Characteristics of Dietary Supplements with Folic Acid Available on the Polish Market.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Association of folate intake and colorectal cancer risk in the postfortification era in US women.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2021Article
- Article
- [6Nutrients · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Folate-containing prenatal supplements are commonly consumed in the United States, but inconsistencies in units of measure and chemical forms pose challenges for providing authoritative advice on recommended amounts. New regulations require folate to be declared as micrograms of dietary folate equivalents (DFE) on product labels, whereas intake recommendations for reducing the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs) and the Tolerable Upper Intake Level are expressed as micrograms of folic acid. Today, >25% of prenatal supplements contain folate as synthetic salts of L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate (L-5-MTHF), but recommendations do not include this form of the vitamin. Harmonizing units of measure and addressing newer forms of folate salts in intake recommendations and in the prevention of NTDs would resolve the confusion.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.