Red Blood Cell Folate Insufficiency among Nonpregnant Women of Childbearing Age in Guatemala 2009 to 2010: Prevalence and Predicted Neural Tube Defects Risk

摘要

BackgroundThe World Health Organization recently released recommendations stating that red blood cell (RBC) folate concentrations should be above 400 ng/L (906 nmol/L) for optimal prevention of folate-sensitive neural tube defects (NTDs). The objective of this study was to determine the distribution of folate insufficiency (FI) (<906 nmol/L) and potential risk of NTDs based on RBC folate concentrations among nonpregnant women of child-bearing age in Guatemala.