FRAMEWORK FOR LABORATORY HARMONIZATION OF FOLATE MEASUREMENTS IN LOW-AND-MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES AND REGIONS1

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Ann N Y Acad Sci
• Personal Author:
  Pfeiffer, Christine M. ; Zhang, Mindy ; Jabbar, Shameem
• Description:
  The measurement of serum and red blood cell folate, two commonly used biomarkers of folate status in populations, is complicated by analytical and data interpretation challenges. Folate results show poor comparability across laboratories, even using the same analytical technique. The folate microbiologic assay produces accurate results and requires simple instrumentation. Thus, it could be set up and maintained in low- and middle-income country laboratories. However, the assay has to be harmonized through the use of common critical reagents (e.g., microorganism and folate calibrator) in order to produce comparable results across laboratories and over time, so that the same cutoff values can be applied across surveys. There is a limited need for blood folate measurements in a country owing to the periodic nature of surveys. Having a network of regional resource laboratories proficient in conducting the folate microbiologic assay and willing and able to perform service work for other countries will be the most efficient way to create an infrastructure wherein qualified laboratories produce reliable blood folate data. Continuous participation of these laboratories in a certification program can verify and document their proficiency. If the resource laboratories conduct the work on a fee-for-service basis, they could become self-sustaining in the long run.
• Subjects:
  Biomarkers Blood Chemical Analysis Developing Countries Erythrocytes Folic Acid Humans Laboratories Lacticaseibacillus Rhamnosus Microbiological Techniques Nutritional Status Quality Control

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• Keywords:
  5-methyltetrahydrofolate Cutoff Value Folic Acid Microbiologic Assay Red Blood Cell Folate Serum Folate
• Source:
  Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1414(1):96-108
• Pubmed ID:
  29377148
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5849494
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  1414
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:3942b7dc1861ed8492f1daa839567e764cd5b0d23a4c02c2894fc9d7af6e2309
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/52467/cdc_52467_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 298.45 KB ]