Question of the Week

Question of the Week:

What kind of anaemia is caused by folic acid deficiency? Why?

Solution:
Folic acid deficiency results in megaloblastic anaemia where RBCs are lesser in number in bigger in size.
This happens because folic acid is involved in synthesis of RNA, DNA and proteins (by transfering 1-carbon units like methyl, methylene & formyl groups to the essential substrates in these synthetic processes). Therefore, a division process of an actively diving cell, like a reticulocyte (mother cell of RBCs), is impaired while the cytoplasm grows at normal rate resulting in the formation undivided, immature, large RBCs. So mature erythrocytes are not found in circulation in the requisite amout.