scholarly journals The effect of combined dietary iron, calcium and folk acid supplementation on apparent 65Zn absorption and zinc status in pregnant rats

1989 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Southon ◽  
A. J. A. Wright ◽  
Susan J. Fairweather−Tait
Keyword(s):  
Folic Acid ◽  
Maternal Plasma ◽  
Folic Acid Supplementation ◽  
Zinc Status ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Pregnant Rat ◽  
Acid Supplementation ◽  
Zn Concentration ◽  
Female Wistar Rats ◽  
Daily Intakes

In the present study the effect of combined iron, calcium and folic acid supplementation of the diet on 65Zn retention and zinc status was studied in the pregnant rat. Female Wistar rats were fed on a low-(8 μg/g) or high- (60 μg/g) Zn diet for 14 d and then mated overnight. After mating, half the rats were fed on the low- or high-Zn diet as before, whilst the other half were fed on similar diets supplemented with Fe, Ca and folic acid. The level of supplementation was chosen to reflect proportionately the possible increase in daily intakes of these nutrients by pregnant women. Rats which did not mate successfully were used as non-pregnant controls. On day 18 of pregnancy, each animal was given a meal of the appropriate diet labelled extrinsically with 65Zn, and on day 20 rats were killed. Carcass 65zn retention was lower in pregnant and non-pregnant rats fed on the supplemented diets compared with those fed on the unsupplemented diets. Rats which consumed the supplemented diets throughout pregnancy had reduced plasma Zn concentrations but femur and fetal Zn concentrations were unaffected. Maternal femur Ca and fetal Fe concentrations were lower in the high-Zn groups compared with rats fed on low-Zn diets. It was concluded that the risk of inducing fetal Zn depletion as a consequence of Fe, Ca and folic acid supplementation during pregnancy appeared to be slight. However, significant differences in 65Zn retention and maternal plasma Zn concentration in the supplemented groups, and reduced maternal bone Ca deposition and fetal Fe accretion in the high-Zn groups, indicated that it would seem wise to adopt a cautious approach to routine supplementation with individual minerals during pregnancy.

Effects of methyl-deficient diets on methionine and homocysteine metabolism in the pregnant rat

2012 ◽  
Vol 302 (12) ◽  
pp. E1531-E1540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona A. Wilson ◽  
Grietje Holtrop ◽  
A. Graham Calder ◽  
Susan E. Anderson ◽  
Gerald E. Lobley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Folic Acid ◽  
Maternal Plasma ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Pregnant Rat ◽  
Fetal Tissues ◽  
Maternal Liver ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
Total Homocysteine ◽  
Limited Diet

Although the importance of methyl metabolism in fetal development is well recognized, there is limited information on the dynamics of methionine flow through maternal and fetal tissues and on how this is related to circulating total homocysteine concentrations. Rates of homocysteine remethylation in maternal and fetal tissues on days 11, 19, and 21 of gestation were measured in pregnant rats fed diets with limiting or surplus amounts of folic acid and choline at two levels of methionine and then infused with l-[1-13C,2H3-methyl]methionine. The rate of homocysteine remethylation was highest in maternal liver and declined as gestation progressed. Diets deficient in folic acid and choline reduced the production of methionine from homocysteine in maternal liver only in the animals fed a methionine-limited diet. Throughout gestation, the pancreas exported homocysteine for methylation within other tissues. Little or no methionine cycle activity was detected in the placenta at days 19 and 21 of gestation, but, during this period, fetal tissues, especially the liver, synthesized methionine from homocysteine. Greater enrichment of homocysteine in maternal plasma than placenta, even in animals fed the most-deficient diets, shows that the placenta did not contribute homocysteine to maternal plasma. Methionine synthesis from homocysteine in fetal tissues was maintained or increased when the dams were fed folate- and choline-deficient methionine-restricted diets. This study shows that methyl-deficient diets decrease the remethylation of homocysteine within maternal tissues but that these rates are protected to some extent within fetal tissues.

scholarly journals Verbal abilities in children of mothers with epilepsy

Neurology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (9) ◽  
pp. e811-e821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Synnøve Nilsen Husebye ◽  
Nils Erik Gilhus ◽  
Bettina Riedel ◽  
Olav Spigset ◽  
Anne Kjersti Daltveit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Folic Acid ◽  
First Trimester ◽  
Maternal Plasma ◽  
Folic Acid Supplementation ◽  
Language Delay ◽  
Verbal Abilities ◽  
Acid Supplementation ◽  
Supplement Use ◽  
Plasma Folate ◽  
Mother And Child

ObjectiveTo examine the effect of maternal folic acid supplementation and maternal plasma folate and antiepileptic drug (AED) concentrations on language delay in AED-exposed children of mothers with epilepsy.MethodsChildren of mothers with and without epilepsy enrolled from 1999 to 2008 in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study were included. Information on medical history, AED use, and folic acid supplementation during pregnancy was collected from parent-completed questionnaires. Maternal plasma folate and maternal plasma and umbilical cord AED concentrations were measured in blood samples from gestational weeks 17 to 19 and immediately after birth, respectively. Language development at 18 and 36 months was evaluated by the Ages and Stages Questionnaires.ResultsA total of 335 AED-exposed children of mothers with epilepsy and 104,222 children of mothers without epilepsy were surveyed. For those with no maternal periconceptional folic acid supplementation, the fully adjusted odds ratio (OR) for language delay in AED-exposed children compared to the controls at 18 months was 3.9 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9–7.8, p < 0.001) and at 36 months was 4.7 (95% CI 2.0–10.6, p < 0.001). When folic supplementation was used, the corresponding ORs for language delay were 1.7 (95% CI 1.2–2.6, p = 0.01) and 1.7 (95% CI 0.9–3.2, p = 0.13), respectively. The positive effect of folic acid supplement use on language delay in AED-exposed children was significant only when supplement was used in the period from 4 weeks before the pregnancy and until the end of the first trimester.ConclusionFolic acid use early in pregnancy may have a preventive effect on language delay associated with in utero AED exposure.

scholarly journals Maternal protein restriction with or without folic acid supplementation during pregnancy alters the hepatic transcriptome in adult male rats

2010 ◽  
Vol 103 (12) ◽  
pp. 1711-1719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen A. Lillycrop ◽  
Joanne Rodford ◽  
Emma S. Garratt ◽  
Joanne L. Slater-Jefferies ◽  
Keith M. Godfrey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Folic Acid ◽  
Ion Transport ◽  
Adult Male ◽  
Developmental Process ◽  
Folic Acid Supplementation ◽  
Male Offspring ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Acid Supplementation ◽  
Liver Transcriptome

Feeding pregnant rats a protein-restricted (PR) diet induces altered expression of candidate genes in the liver of the adult offspring, which can be prevented by supplementation of the PR diet with folic acid (PRF). We investigated the effect of maternal nutrition during pregnancy on the liver transcriptome in their adult male offspring. Pregnant rats were fed control, PR or PRF diets. Male offspring were killed on day 84. The liver transcriptome was analysed by microarray (six livers per maternal dietary group) followed by post hoc analysis of relative mRNA levels and gene ontology. These results were confirmed for selected genes by real-time RT-PCR. There were 311 genes that differed significantly ( ≥ 1·5-fold change; P < 0·05) between PR offspring (222 increased) and control offspring, while 191 genes differed significantly between PRF offspring (forty-five increased) compared with offspring of control dams. There were sixteen genes that were significantly altered in both PR and PRF offspring compared with controls. Ion transport, developmental process, and response to reactive oxygen species (RROS) and steroid hormone response (SHR) ontologies were altered in PR offspring. Folic acid supplementation prevented changes within RROS and SHR response pathways, but not in ion transport or developmental process. There was no effect of maternal PR on mRNA expression of imprinted genes. Insulin 1 and Pleckstrin homology-like domain family A member 2 were increased significantly in PRF compared with PR offspring. The present findings show that the pattern of induced changes in the adult liver transcriptome were dependent on maternal protein and folic acid intakes during pregnancy.

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