BACKGROUND: Laboratory studies suggest that folate intake may decrease blood pressure (BP) through increasing nitric oxide synthesis in endothelial cells and/or reducing plasma homocysteine concentrations. However, human studies, particularly longitudinal data, are limited. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to investigate whether dietary folate intake is associated with the 20-y incidence of hypertension. DESIGN: We prospectively followed 4400 men and women (African Americans and whites aged 18-30 y) without hypertension at baseline (1985) in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study 6 times, in 1987, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2000, and 2005. Diet was assessed by dietary-history questionnaire at baseline and in 1992 and 2005. Incident hypertension was defined as the first occurrence at any follow-up examination of systolic BP ≥ 140 mm Hg, diastolic BP ≥ 90 mm Hg, or use of antihypertensive medication. RESULTS: A total of 989 incident cases were identified during the 20-y follow-up. After adjustment for potential confounders, participants in the highest quintile of total folate intake had a significantly lower incidence of hypertension (HR: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.38, 0.62; P-trend < 0.01) than did those in the lowest quintile. The multivariable HRs for the same comparison were 0.33 (95% CI: 0.22, 0.51; P-trend < 0.01) in whites and 0.54 (95% CI: 0.40, 0.75; P-trend < 0.01) in African Americans (P-interaction = 0.047). The inverse associations were confirmed in a subset of the cohort (n = 1445) with serum folate measured at baseline and in 1992 and 2000. CONCLUSIONS: Higher folate intake in young adulthood was longitudinally associated with a lower incidence of hypertension later in life. This inverse association was more pronounced in whites. Additional studies are warranted to establish the causal inference.
BACKGROUND: Laboratory studies suggest that folate intake may decrease blood pressure (BP) through increasing nitric oxide synthesis in endothelial cells and/or reducing plasma homocysteine concentrations. However, human studies, particularly longitudinal data, are limited. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to investigate whether dietary folate intake is associated with the 20-y incidence of hypertension. DESIGN: We prospectively followed 4400 men and women (African Americans and whites aged 18-30 y) without hypertension at baseline (1985) in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study 6 times, in 1987, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2000, and 2005. Diet was assessed by dietary-history questionnaire at baseline and in 1992 and 2005. Incident hypertension was defined as the first occurrence at any follow-up examination of systolic BP ≥ 140 mm Hg, diastolic BP ≥ 90 mm Hg, or use of antihypertensive medication. RESULTS: A total of 989 incident cases were identified during the 20-y follow-up. After adjustment for potential confounders, participants in the highest quintile of total folate intake had a significantly lower incidence of hypertension (HR: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.38, 0.62; P-trend < 0.01) than did those in the lowest quintile. The multivariable HRs for the same comparison were 0.33 (95% CI: 0.22, 0.51; P-trend < 0.01) in whites and 0.54 (95% CI: 0.40, 0.75; P-trend < 0.01) in African Americans (P-interaction = 0.047). The inverse associations were confirmed in a subset of the cohort (n = 1445) with serum folate measured at baseline and in 1992 and 2000. CONCLUSIONS: Higher folate intake in young adulthood was longitudinally associated with a lower incidence of hypertension later in life. This inverse association was more pronounced in whites. Additional studies are warranted to establish the causal inference.
Authors: P Xun; N Hou; M Daviglus; K Liu; J S Morris; J M Shikany; S Sidney; D R Jacobs; K He Journal: J Intern Med Date: 2011-01-09 Impact factor: 8.989
Authors: Patricia M Kearney; Megan Whelton; Kristi Reynolds; Paul Muntner; Paul K Whelton; Jiang He Journal: Lancet Date: 2005 Jan 15-21 Impact factor: 79.321
Authors: Lyn M Steffen; Candyce H Kroenke; Xinhua Yu; Mark A Pereira; Martha L Slattery; Linda Van Horn; Myron D Gross; David R Jacobs Journal: Am J Clin Nutr Date: 2005-12 Impact factor: 7.045
Authors: A McDonald; L Van Horn; M Slattery; J Hilner; C Bragg; B Caan; D Jacobs; K Liu; H Hubert; N Gernhofer; E Betz; D Havlik Journal: J Am Diet Assoc Date: 1991-09
Authors: K Liu; M Slattery; D Jacobs; G Cutter; A McDonald; L Van Horn; J E Hilner; B Caan; C Bragg; A Dyer Journal: Ethn Dis Date: 1994 Impact factor: 1.847
Authors: L L N Husemoen; T Skaaby; B H Thuesen; N Grarup; C H Sandholt; T Hansen; O Pedersen; A Linneberg Journal: Eur J Clin Nutr Date: 2016-02-24 Impact factor: 4.016
Authors: Bo Qin; Pengcheng Xun; David R Jacobs; Na Zhu; Martha L Daviglus; Jared P Reis; Lyn M Steffen; Linda Van Horn; Stephen Sidney; Ka He Journal: Am J Clin Nutr Date: 2017-08-02 Impact factor: 7.045