叶酸缺乏与肿瘤发生

Folic acid deficiency and tumorigenesis

叶酸又称蝶酰谷氨酸、维生素M,是蔬菜和水果的重要营养成分之一。叶酸的生物活性形式为5-甲基四氢叶酸,它是体内一碳单位代谢的载体,参与体内许多生物学过程,包括核酸和蛋白质的合成及其表观遗传修饰。表观遗传修饰在肿瘤的发生中起着很重要的作用。流行病学研究资料表明,叶酸缺乏可能与人类肿瘤的发生有关。叶酸的缺乏可导致基因组DNA的低甲基化及核苷酸内部特定位点的高甲基化从而引起肿瘤的发生。本文主要简述叶酸摄入不足与肿瘤发生之间的关系。

Folic acid, also know as pteroymonoglutamic acid and vitamin M, is one of the important constituents of vegetables and fruits. 5-methyltetrahydrofolate is the biologically active form of folate, and acts as carriers of one-carbon moieties for many biological processes, such as synthesis of nucleotide and proteins and epigenetic modification. Epigenetic modification plays an important role in the tumorigenesis. Recent epidemiological studies indicate that folic acid deficiency in vivo has a close correlation with tumorigenesis. Folate deficiency may induce tumorigenesis via global DNA hypomethylation and internal specific nucleotide site hypermethylation, finally leading to tumorigenesis. This review mainly focused on the correlation of folic acid deficiency with tumorigenesis.