Calcium folinate

Folate is a water-soluble B vitamin that is naturally present in some foods, added to others, and available as a dietary supplement. “Folate,” formerly known as “folacin” and sometimes “vitamin B9,” is the generic term for naturally occurring food folates, and folates in dietary supplements and fortified foods, including folic acid. Food folates are in the tetrahydrofolate (THF) form and usually have additional glutamate residues, making them polyglutamates [1]. Folic acid is the fully oxidized monoglutamate form of the vitamin that is used in fortified foods and most dietary supplements. Some dietary supplements also contain folate in the monoglutamyl form, 5-methyl-THF (also known as L-5- MTHF, 5-MTHF, L-methylfolate, and methylfolate). Folinic Acid is a form of folic acid that may have certain distinct characteristics in terms of metabolism and different steps that it addresses in methylation blocks. It has been used to prevent or treat problems with folate antagonists such as methotrexate in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis [2]. It may also have unique advantages in treating elevated homocysteine in relation to specific genomic variations that are less responsive to other forms of folate. Folinic acid is also used in combination with certain chemotherapy regimens as part of the “leucovorin rescue” to protect against toxic effects of certain chemotherapeutic agents. This is a specific medical use in combination with prescription therapeutic agents and is beyond the scope of discussion of this review but is mentioned as it is a specific use of this agent. Folate functions as a coenzyme or cosubstrate in single-carbon transfers in the synthesis of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and metabolism of amino acids [1,3,4]. One of the most important folate-dependent reactions is the conversion of homocysteine to methionine in the synthesis of S-adenosyl-methionine, an important methyl donor. Another folate-dependent reaction, the methylation of deoxyuridylate to thymidylate in the formation of DNA, is required for proper cell division. An impairment of this reaction initiates a process that can lead to megaloblastic anemia, one of the hallmarks of folate deficiency [5].