Does Folic Acid Improve Kidney Function?

Folic acid is a form of folate, the B vitamin commonly found in fortified foods and supplements. You can use this nutrient to address a folate deficiency in your diet and treat or prevent several other conditions. While folic acid is not typically used to improve kidney function, people with kidney disease-related anemia sometimes receive it in combination with other treatments. Consult your doctor before you take a folic acid product.

Background

Although folic acid is rare in its natural form, it has more chemical stability than naturally occurring folate, according to Oregon State University’s Linus Pauling Institute. In your body, folate plays a vital role in the formation of your cellular DNA and RNA. It also helps you form your internal supply of the amino acids homocysteine and methionine. Sources of folate in the average diet include lima and garbanzo beans, spinach, asparagus, lentils and orange juice. Folic acid is available as a stand-alone vitamin supplement or as an ingredient in multivitamins and B-complex vitamins.

Preventing Birth Defects

In addition to helping address a folate deficiency, folic acid use can help prevent the onset of birth defects called neural tube defects when women take it both before and during pregnancy. Specific results of neural tube defects that can be prevented in this way include anencephaly -- which occurs when most or all of a fetus’ brain does not develop -- and spina bifida, which occurs when a fetus’ spinal column fails to completely encircle the spinal cord. Because of the importance of folate during pregnancy, folic acid is a required ingredient in fortified breads, rice and pasta in the United States.

Cancer and Cancer Prevention

People with cancers of the lungs, brain, breast, pancreas, cervix, rectum and colon often have reduced levels of dietary folate intake, the Linus Pauling Institute reports. Since folate is required for DNA and RNA synthesis, lack of this nutrient may alter normal gene expression, as well as your body’s ability to repair DNA damage that leads to the onset of cancer. In people with cervical cancer, folic acid supplementation has produced mixed results, while supplementation in people with colorectal cancer has produced more promising results.

Lowering Homocysteine

People with a folate deficiency can develop elevated blood levels of homocysteine. In turn, elevated homocysteine levels can significantly increase your risks for the development of cardiovascular disease. Folic acid is particularly effective in lowering homocysteine, the Linus Pauling Institute notes, and folic acid fortification of common foods has decreased homocysteine levels in the general population. However, homocysteine reductions as high as 52 percent have not resulted in lower mortality rates in people with pre-existing kidney disease or heart disease.

Anemia and Kidney Disease

Folate deficiency and kidney disease can both produce a condition called anemia, which is characterized by reduced availability of oxygen-rich red blood cells. Folate deficiency triggers a form of anemia called megaloblastic anemia, which occurs when the body produces fewer red blood cells, each of which is abnormally large. Kidney disease-related anemia occurs when the kidneys produce lowered levels of a hormone called erythropoietin, or EPO, which stimulates red blood cell production. In some cases, people with kidney disease receive folic acid in addition to other anemia treatments.