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Intel Lab Diagnostics Dubai
Single Biomarker

Folic Acid (Folate)

Vitamin B9 (Folate)

Folate is a B vitamin essential for DNA synthesis and red blood cell production. Deficiency can cause megaloblastic anaemia and, during pregnancy, increase the risk of neural tube defects. No fasting required.

BLOOD24 HOURSNO FASTING
AEDAED170
  • Free home collection
  • Physician-reviewed report

24 Hours

Turnaround

Blood

Sample

About This Test

What the Folic Acid (Folate) test tells you

Folate, also called vitamin B9, is needed whenever the body builds new DNA, and it does that fastest in the bone marrow, the lining of the gut and a developing baby. The body cannot make folate and stores only a modest amount, mostly in the liver, so a period of poor intake or increased demand depletes it within months rather than years. This test measures the folate circulating in your blood.

When folate runs short, the bone marrow cannot divide red cell precursors properly and produces red cells that are too large and too few, a pattern known as megaloblastic anaemia. It causes tiredness, breathlessness, pallor and sometimes a sore tongue. Vitamin B12 works in the same pathway and produces an identical picture in the blood, which is why the two are almost always measured together. That overlap carries a genuine safety warning: giving folate to someone whose real problem is B12 deficiency can correct the anaemia and make the person look treated, while the nerve damage of untreated B12 deficiency continues silently. For that reason folate should never be taken to treat an unexplained anaemia without B12 being checked first.

The other major context is pregnancy. The neural tube, the structure that becomes the brain and spinal cord, forms and closes in the earliest weeks, often before a pregnancy is confirmed. Adequate folate at that moment substantially reduces the risk of serious neural tube defects such as spina bifida, which is why supplementation is advised before conception rather than after a pregnancy is discovered. Folate is also one of the vitamins required to clear homocysteine from the blood, so a low level is a common explanation for a raised homocysteine result.

Sample type
Blood
Measured in
ng/mL
Turnaround
24 Hours
Fasting
Not required
Best for
All ages
Why Get Tested?

Ordered when megaloblastic anaemia is suspected, during pregnancy planning or early pregnancy, and when homocysteine levels are elevated.

  • Investigates large-cell anaemia

    When red cells are fewer and larger than usual, folate and vitamin B12 are the first deficiencies to exclude, and both are checked together.

  • Supports pregnancy planning

    Folate status is assessed before and in early pregnancy, when demand is highest and the timing genuinely matters.

  • Explains raised homocysteine

    Folate is required to clear homocysteine, so a shortage is a common reason for a raised result.

  • Assesses absorption problems

    Coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease and previous gut or stomach surgery all reduce how much folate is taken up.

When This Test Is Ordered

Reasons your doctor may request the Folic Acid (Folate) test

Your doctor may order this test for any of the reasons below. Some are routine checks, others follow specific symptoms or an earlier result.

  • Anaemia & raised homocysteine

    • A blood count has shown anaemia with unusually large red cells.
    • A homocysteine result has come back raised and its cause is being sought.

  • Planning a pregnancy

    • You are planning a pregnancy or are in the early weeks of one.

  • Absorption, medication & diet

    • You have coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease or have had bowel or stomach surgery.
    • You take methotrexate, certain anticonvulsants or other medicines that interfere with folate.
    • Long-term heavy alcohol use or a very restricted diet makes deficiency likely.
Preparation
The short version
No prep needed.
  • Blood
  • Free home collection
  • No fasting
  • Results in 24 Hours
  1. 1
    Book any time

    No fasting window: pick any slot that suits you, online or on WhatsApp.

  2. 2
    We come to you

    A DHA-licensed nurse collects your sample at home or in the office: free home collection.

  3. 3
    Results in 24 Hours

    A physician-reviewed, easy-to-read report lands securely by WhatsApp and email.

Prep note
Physician reviewed

Fasting is not required for folate itself, although it is often drawn together with tests that do need it, so follow the instruction you were given for the whole request.

A morning sample is preferred. If you take a folic acid tablet or a multivitamin, ask your doctor whether to hold that morning's dose until after the blood is taken, because a recent dose can lift the blood level and make your stores look better than they are.

Avoid a large folate-rich meal immediately beforehand for the same reason. Tell the team about methotrexate, anticonvulsants, sulfasalazine and regular alcohol use, and mention pregnancy, breastfeeding or any recent blood transfusion.

Understanding Your Results

A result in the "Low" ng/mL band suggests intake or absorption has not kept up with demand: a diet short of green vegetables, pulses and fortified foods, coeliac or inflammatory bowel disease, pregnancy or breastfeeding, heavy alcohol use, or medicines such as methotrexate. A "Normal" ng/mL result reflects recent intake more than tissue stores, so a supplement dose or a folate-rich meal shortly before the sample can lift a genuinely low level into this band. A "High" ng/mL reading is usually supplements or fortified food and is not typically harmful, though it can also appear when vitamin B12 is deficient and folate cannot be used properly. Folate is never read alone. Correcting it while a vitamin B12 deficiency goes unnoticed allows nerve damage to progress, so your doctor interprets it with your B12 result, your blood count, your symptoms and your history.

SmartReport
320
Healthy zone12ng/mLNormal
Reference ranges · ng/mL
Low
Low: may cause anaemia; supplementation may help.
0–3
Normal
Healthy folate level.
3.1–20
High
High: usually from supplements; not typically harmful.
20.1–40

Ranges are a guide: your physician interprets your result alongside your symptoms and history.

Reading a High or Low Result

  • What a higher result can point to

    • Folic acid or multivitamin supplements, particularly a dose taken shortly before the sample.
    • A diet rich in fortified cereals and flour products, leafy greens and pulses.
    • A recent blood transfusion, which introduces folate from donor cells.
    • Vitamin B12 deficiency, where folate cannot be used properly and accumulates in the blood.

  • What a lower result can point to

    • A diet low in green vegetables, pulses and fortified foods.
    • Malabsorption from coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease or gastric surgery.
    • Pregnancy and breastfeeding, which raise demand substantially.
    • Chronic heavy alcohol use, which impairs both intake and handling of folate.
    • Medicines that block folate metabolism, including methotrexate and some anticonvulsants.
    • Conditions with rapid cell turnover, such as ongoing haemolysis, which consume folate quickly.

These are possibilities, not diagnoses. A single value outside the reference range is interpreted alongside your symptoms, history and other tests: your doctor decides what it means for you.

Limitations & Safety

What this test cannot tell you

  • Taking folate can correct the anaemia of vitamin B12 deficiency while the neurological damage of that B12 deficiency continues unnoticed, so folate must never be interpreted or treated without a B12 result alongside it.
  • Serum folate reflects recent intake, so a supplement dose or a folate-rich meal shortly before the sample can raise the result and mask a real deficiency.
  • It measures folate circulating in blood rather than what is stored in tissue, so a single result may not represent longer-term status.
  • Fortification of flour and cereals in many countries has made frank deficiency less common, so results are always read against the clinical picture.

Risks of the blood draw

  • Mild bruising or brief soreness where the needle went in.
  • Occasional lightheadedness, which settles after a few minutes of rest.
  • Bleeding or infection at the site, which is rare with sterile single-use equipment.
Key Points
  • 1Folate is essential for DNA synthesis and is used most heavily by rapidly dividing tissue.
  • 2Correcting folate alone can hide vitamin B12 deficiency while nerve damage progresses, which is why the two are always assessed together and folate is not taken for an unexplained anaemia before B12 is checked.
  • 3Adequate folate before conception and in the earliest weeks substantially reduces the risk of serious neural tube birth defects.
  • 4Stores are limited, so deficiency can develop over months of poor intake or high demand.
  • 5The result reflects recent intake, which is why supplement timing before the sample is discussed with you.
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The two vitamins work in the same pathway and a shortage of either produces identical changes in the blood count. Treating folate while B12 remains low can clear the anaemia while nerve damage progresses unnoticed, so both are measured before anything is given.