Folate is an essential B vitamin required for the maintenance of AdoMet-dependent methylation. The liver is responsible for many methylation reactions that are used for post- translational modification of proteins, methylation of DNA, and the synthesis of hormones, creatine, carnitine, and phos- phatidylcholine. Conditions where methylation capacity is compromised, including folate deficiency, are associated with impaired phosphatidylcholine synthesis resulting in non-
alcoholic fatty liver disease and steatohepatitis. In addition, folate intake and folate status have been associated with changes in the expression of genes involved in lipid metabo- lism, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. In this review, we pro- vide insight on the relationship between folate and lipid metabolism, and an outlook for the future of lipid-related folate research. VC 2013 BioFactors, 40(3):277–283, 2014
