High Dose Folic Acid Supplementation Throughout Pregnancy for Preeclampsia Prevention

Summary

To determine the efficacy of high dose folic acid supplementation for prevention of preeclampsia in women with at least one risk factor: pre-existing hypertension, pre-pregnancy diabetes (type 1 or 2), twin pregnancy, preeclampsia in a previous pregnancy, or body mass index ≥35. It was hypothesized that high dose (4.0 mg per day) supplementation starting in early pregnancy and continued throughout the entire pregnancy will lower the incidence of preeclampsia in pregnant women at high risk of developing preeclampsia.

Timeline

Start

2011-04

Primary completion

2016-07

Completion

2016-09

Publications

• Muldoon KA, McLean C, El-Chaar D, Corsi DJ, Rybak N, Dagvadorj A, Guo Y, Rennicks White R, Dingwall-Harvey ALJ, Gaudet LM, Walker MC, Wen SW; FACT Collaborating Group. Persisting risk factors for preeclampsia among high-risk pregnancies already using prophylactic aspirin: a multi-country retrospective investigation. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2023 Dec;36(1):2200879. doi: 10.1080/14767058.2023.2200879.
• Rose EG, Murphy MSQ, Erwin E, Muldoon KA, Harvey ALJ, Rennicks White R, MacFarlane AJ, Wen SW, Walker MC. Gestational Folate and Folic Acid Intake among Women in Canada at Higher Risk of Pre-Eclampsia. J Nutr. 2021 Jul 1;151(7):1976-1982. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxab063.
• Corsi DJ, Gaudet LM, El-Chaar D, White RR, Rybak N, Harvey A, Muldoon K, Wen SW, Walker M. Effect of high-dose folic acid supplementation on the prevention of preeclampsia in twin pregnancy. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2022 Feb;35(3):503-508. doi: 10.1080/14767058.2020.1725882. Epub 2020 Feb 18.
• Wen SW, White RR, Rybak N, Gaudet LM, Robson S, Hague W, Simms-Stewart D, Carroli G, Smith G, Fraser WD, Wells G, Davidge ST, Kingdom J, Coyle D, Fergusson D, Corsi DJ, Champagne J, Sabri E, Ramsay T, Mol BWJ, Oudijk MA, Walker MC; FACT Collaborating Group. Effect of high dose folic acid supplementation in pregnancy on pre-eclampsia (FACT): double blind, phase III, randomised controlled, international, multicentre trial. BMJ. 2018 Sep 12;362:k3478. doi: 10.1136/bmj.k3478.
• Wen SW, Champagne J, Rennicks White R, Coyle D, Fraser W, Smith G, Fergusson D, Walker MC. Effect of folic acid supplementation in pregnancy on preeclampsia: the folic acid clinical trial study. J Pregnancy. 2013;2013:294312. doi: 10.1155/2013/294312. Epub 2013 Nov 18.

Drugs

Indications