Folate, Metafolin and the MTHFR Mutation
Have you ever heard of the issue of you taking vitamins and your body not being able to utilize them? Your genetics impact the way your enzymes work not just in terms of how you react to medications (pharmacogenomics) but also in terms of how much you are able to make good use of supplements you are taking. Folate and B vitamins are essential for brain health
Methylene-tetrahydrofolate-reductase is an enzyme that plays an important role in:
converting folate and synthetic folic acid into their activated form, known as 5-MTHF
processing amino acids, including homocysteine conversion into methionine
MTFHR and synthetic (the form in most supplements) folic acid
MTFHR adds a methyl group to folic acid, thereby ACTIVATING and allowing it to carry out its important functions in the central nervous system. While some naturally occurring folate (found in vegetables and fruit) already exist in the activated state, synthetic folic acid found in supplements is not methylated and always needs MTFHR for the conversion.
MTFHR SNPs
Mutations to the gene MTFHR (the gene that codes and expresses the actual enzyme) cause a decrease in MTFHR enzymatic activity. Two well known and actively studied MTHFR single nucleotide polymorphisms are the C677T and the A1298C. As with any polymorphism, we can have either mutation by inheritance from one parent (heterozygous mutation) or both parents (homozygous mutation). The C677T specifically, was found to be quite common: in North America more than 25% of Hispanics and 10-15% of Caucasians are estimated to be homozygous for it. Both mutations result in high levels of homocysteine and low levels of activated folate (aka metafolin), even an INABILITY To ACTIVATE synthetic folate, resulting in brain dysfunction and psychiatric symptoms, including depression, even dementia.
With patients who already have depression and are known to be carrier of a mutation, even as a prescription product, Deplin can be warranted. It contains metafolin at a much higher dose, 15mg. If you have your 23&me results, you know if you have these mutations or not. Contact me for your personalized supplement recommendation list. If you do not know your status, it is best to err on the side of caution and take supplements in an activated form. The O.N.E multivitamin has folate and all B vitamins in an activated form in it, ready to be utilized in the body, although at a lower dose (metafolin 400 mcg) but this is sufficient for most of us. On a sidenote, any pregnant women should take prenatal vitamins containing activated forms of these vitamins since if they have a mutation, these compounds will never make it to the baby in a useful form. Folate and the B vitamins being crucial for the healthy development of the baby, this is important!
