What is Quatrefolic?
Man-made folic acid, contained in supplements and added to foods is not biologically active. It needs to be converted into the metabolically active 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF). This occurs through a multi-step process where the enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) owns a key role.
Folate status in pregnancy is a critical factor for proper foetal development. Humans cannot produce folate and pregnant women rarely consume adequate quantities of it through their diet. Therefore, folate is required to prevent NTDs (neural tube defects).
Some individuals, due to their unique genetic patterns and expression, have a polymorphism enzyme. This can mean that they do not produce adequate or effective MTHFR. Quatrefolic® is structurally analogous to the reduced and active form of folate.
Therefore Quatrefolic® can completely bypass the “damaged” MTHFR conversion step. Delivering a “finished” folate the body can immediately use without any kind of 'activation'.
Pregnant women with MTHFR genetic polymorphisms have an increased risk of many deleterious defects. This may include NTDs, cleft palate, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and low birth weight as well as pregnancy loss and preeclampsia.
Quatrefolic® may be particularly useful during preconception, pregnancy and also lactation. This is because it provides the “natural” and “bioactive” dose of folate directly, without activation by the MTHFR enzyme.
Hyper-homocysteinemia in recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL)
Hyper-homocysteinemia in pregnant women has been associated with various complications. This may include deep venous thrombosis, recurrent miscarriage, placental abruption, preeclampsia, neural tube defects, foetal growth restriction or other abnormal conditions.
About one in three patients of RPL have hyper-homocysteinemia. Therefore, lowering homocysteine plasma levels can significantly help in improvement of pregnancy complications. Quatrefolic® may help decrease homocysteine levels.
Fertility & Reproduction
MTHFR polymorphism plays a significant role in human fertility. It is associated with impaired female fecundity. Quatrefolic® bypasses folate metabolism disturbances and may improve female fertility. As well as increase success rates in infertility treatment, as shown in a case series study (Servy et al. 2018).
The study evaluated the effect of Quatrefolic® in couples with a long history of infertility. That experienced repeated foetal loss, premature ovarian failure or abnormal sperm parameters. Most of the women had previously been treated un-successfully with 5mg daily of folic acid. Both partners took 800mcg of Quatrefolic® which resulted in an overall pregnancy rate of 86.7%.
Research on the benefits of Quatrefolic®!
This study set out to determine if Quatrefolic® was effective at reducing homocysteine levels. In people with a polymorphism at MTHFR C677T. Homocysteine is an amino acid that can build up in the blood. Hyper-homocysteinaemia (high homocysteine levels) is one of the most common risk factors for thrombophilia (a tendency towards blood clots).
In pregnant women, this tendency towards blood clots increases her risk of miscarriage. According to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), 1.5% of the population is homozygous (inherited from both parents) and 25% are heterozygous (inherited from one parent).
RANZCOG state that this "thrombophilic tendency is minimised by an adequacy of folate, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin B6 and vitamin B12". The participants in the study were 89 couples with fertility problems for at least 3 years. As expected, prior to treatment, homocysteine levels were higher in the homozygous patients than in the heterozygous patients.
Couples were treated with 600mcg of Quatrefolic® for 3 months. Both groups were found to have a clinically significant reduction in homocysteine with a substantial reduction in the homozygous group. This study backs up the results of another study using Quatrefolic® conducted last year. Couples with MTHFR C677T polymorphisms experiencing recurrent miscarriages were treated with 800mcg of Quatrefolic®.
References:
- Clément A, Menezo Y, Cohen M, Cornet D, Clément P. 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate reduces blood homocysteine level significantly in C677T methyltetrahydrofolate reductase single-nucleotide polymorphism carriers consulting for infertility. J Gynecol Obstet Hum Reprod. 2020
- RANZCOG, Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation and Pregnancy, PDF report published in November 2019.
