White Blood Cells and Folate (B9)

[John_Hemming]

I have been having an issue with my WBC count even though I was not taking Rapamycin. I know that in theory a low WBC is pro longevity, but I still like having them and I seemed to be stuck under 2G per litre.

One thing I changed was to reinstate over supplementing with folate and my WBC then went back over 2 (and is last 2.6 and hence I have taken another dose of rapamycin).

The problem is that I cannot be certain what causes what, but it is possible that being a bit generous with folate would help in dealing with some of the rapamycin side effect. I cannot assure anyone of this, but it may be worth trying.

[adssx]

This might be relevant?

What are your homocysteine levels? What have you done to reduce it? Why isn't it part of PhenoAge or aging.ai clocks?

I think I now understand why the ITP is testing methotrexate: Late-life dietary folate restriction reduces biosynthesis without compromising healthspan in mice 2024 This paper, authored by Kaeberlein and Kennedy concludes: Folate is a vitamin required for cell growth and is present in fortified foods in the form of folic acid to prevent congenital abnormalities. The impact of low-folate status on life-long health is poorly understood. We found that limiting folate levels with the folate antagonist methotrexate increased the lifespan of yeast and worms. We then restricted folate intake in aged mice and measured various health metrics, metabolites, and gene expression signatures. Limiting folate intake decreased anabolic biosynthetic processes in mice and enhanced metabolic plasticity. Despite reduced serum folate levels in mice with limited folic acid intake, these animals maintained their weight and adiposity late in life, and we did not observe adverse health outcomes. These result…

[John_Hemming]

Indeed it may be relevant. I had been supplementing B12 with a B12/B9 combination and changed to B12 only.

We know what the normal range is for various biomarkers. We don’t know what all the consequences are of being anywhere particularly in that range or just outside it although there is some knowledge of extreme values of some biomarkers.

[Stiv]

Im also interested because Im heterozygous for MTFHR and it has been banged into me to get the ‘right’ folate for health.

Generally lower neutrophils and higher lymphocytes is seen as good (lower NL ratio) but Ive always wondered if the Rapamycin meeps my lymphs low.