ABSTRACT
Folic acid deficiency
may result from:
• Nutritional deficiency • Malabsorption syndrome • Reduced folate-binding protein • Folic acid antagonists (e.g., methotrexate) • Drugs reducing the level of folic acid (anticonvulsants and pyrimethamine) • Agents blocking purine synthesis (e.g., mercaptopurine, thioguanine) or pyrimidine syn-
thesis (5-fluorouracil) • Hemolytic diseases (accelerated hematopoiesis) • Proliferative diseases and other conditions
Folic acid is administered orally and should not be used in the treatment of pernicious anemia (see Paul et al., 2004).
