The effect of folic acid on different genders of sprague-dawley rats / Ismah Syafiqah Ishak

Homocysteine involves in DNA methylation. High level of homocysteine level has a possible risk to get cardiovascular disease. Folic acid helps to reduce the homocysteine level. Folic acid also helps to reduce lipid profile level. Male and female genders have different level of lipid profiles. Therefore, the effect of folic acid supplement on body weight, food and water intake, lipid profiles, and haematological profiles were investigated for both genders. Control group (group 1) for both genders were given with normal saline. Four groups of both genders were given different doses of folic acid orally: 2 mg/kg (group 2), 5 mg/kg (group 3), 10 mg/kg (group 4), and 20 mg/kg (group 5), respectively for two weeks. Whole blood sample was collected for each rat for haematological analysis meanwhile serum collected from blood sample was used for lipid profile analysis. There was a significance difference in food and water intake (p<0.05) for both genders, cholesterol level in male group 2, 3 and 5 (p=0.03), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in female group 5 (p=0.027), triglyceride level (p<0.05) for all male groups, lymphocyte count in male from group 5 (p=0.049), red blood cell count in male from group 2 (p=0.045), mean corpuscular volume in male from group 2 (p=0.021) and female group 2 (p=0.018) and group 3 (p=0.028), mean corpuscular haemoglobin in female group 3 (p=0.02), and lastly platelet count in male group 2 (p=0.012) and group 3 (p=0.039). There were no differences shown in body weight for both genders, cholesterol level in female groups, high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein in both groups, and triglyceride value in female groups. In haematological analysis, there was no significance difference in both genders which are white blood cell, neutrophil, lymphocyte ( except group 5 in male group), monocyte, eosinophil, basophil, red blood cell ( except group 2 male), haemoglobin, haematocrit, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, red cell distribution width, and mean platelet volume. As a conclusion, folic acid gives the effect on food and water intake for both genders, and cholesterol and triglyceride level in male groups.