Folic Acid Supplementation for Blood Pressure Reduction in Hypertension: A Meta-Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37275/bsm.v8i12.1134Keywords:
Blood pressure, Cardiovascular disease, Folic acid, Hypertension, Meta-analysisAbstract
Background: Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. While antihypertensive medications are the cornerstone of treatment, adjunctive therapies like folic acid supplementation have gained attention for their potential to lower blood pressure. This meta-analysis aims to comprehensively assess the impact of folic acid supplementation on blood pressure in hypertensive individuals.
Methods: A systematic search of electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library) was conducted from January 2018 to December 2023 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of folic acid supplementation on blood pressure in adults with hypertension. Data on systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were extracted. A random-effects model was used to pool data, and heterogeneity was assessed using the I² statistic.
Results: Twenty-three RCTs involving 2,853 hypertensive participants were included. Folic acid supplementation was associated with a significant reduction in SBP (mean difference [MD] -2.93 mmHg, 95% confidence interval [CI] -4.11 to -1.75, p < 0.00001), DBP (MD -1.87 mmHg, 95% CI -2.63 to -1.11, p < 0.00001), and MAP (MD -2.21 mmHg, 95% CI -3.01 to -1.41, p < 0.00001) compared to placebo or control. Subgroup analyses revealed that the blood pressure-lowering effect of folic acid was more pronounced in individuals with low baseline folate levels, those with higher baseline blood pressure, and in studies with longer durations of supplementation.
Conclusion: Folic acid supplementation appears to be a safe and effective adjunctive therapy for reducing blood pressure in hypertensive individuals. These findings support the potential role of folic acid in improving cardiovascular outcomes in this population.
Authors
- Andreafika Kusumaningtyas Harqiqi1*
- Evi Supriadi2
- 1Sultan Thaha Saifuddin General Hospital, Tebo, Indonesia
- 2Division of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, Raden Mattaher General Hospital, Jambi, Indonesia
Corresponding author Andreafika Kusumaningtyas Harqiqi — andreafikaharqiqi14@gmail.com
Article history
- Submitted
- Accepted
- Published
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
As our aim is to disseminate original research article, hence the publishing right is a necessary one. The publishing right is needed in order to reach the agreement between the author and publisher. As the journal is fully open access, the authors will sign an exclusive license agreement.
The authors have the right to:
- Share their article in the same ways permitted to third parties under the relevant user license.
- Retain copyright, patent, trademark and other intellectual property rights including research data.
- Proper attribution and credit for the published work.
For the open access article, the publisher is granted to the following right.
- The non-exclusive right to publish the article and grant right to others.
- For the published article, the publisher applied for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
