Folic acid supplementation and malaria susceptibility and severity among people taking antifolate antimalarial drugs in endemic areas - PubMed
3 days ago
- #malaria
- #folic-acid
- #antifolate
- Folic acid supplementation may reduce the efficacy of antifolate antimalarial drugs, leading to lower parasite clearance and increased treatment failure.
- Most malaria treatment trials included folic acid doses above the tolerable upper intake level (>1.0 mg/day), showing negative impacts on treatment outcomes.
- Malaria prevention trials did not report significant differences in malaria parasitaemia with folic acid supplementation, but data on primary outcomes (uncomplicated and severe malaria) were lacking.
- Folic acid supplementation (alone or with iron) during malaria treatment was associated with higher treatment failure rates on days 7, 14, and 28.
- One trial using the recommended folic acid dose (400 μg/day for neural tube defect prevention) showed little to no effect on parasite clearance or treatment failure.
- The review highlights the need for caution when combining folic acid supplementation with antifolate antimalarial drugs in malaria-endemic areas.