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Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Modifying Levels of Maternal Dietary Folic Acid or Choline to Study the Impact of Deficiencies on Offspring Health Outcomes
03:19

Modifying Levels of Maternal Dietary Folic Acid or Choline to Study the Impact of Deficiencies on Offspring Health Outcomes

Published on: June 28, 2024

Maternal folate and cobalamin status predicts vitamin status in newborns and 6-month-old infants

Gry Hay1, Torun Clausen, Andrew Whitelaw

  • 1Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, 0316 Oslo, Norway. gry.hay@medisin.uio

The Journal of Nutrition
|January 15, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Maternal folate and cobalamin status significantly predict infant vitamin levels long-term. Maternal holotranscobalamin (holoTC) and holohaptocorrin (holoHC) are key indicators for infant cobalamin status.

Area of Science:

  • Nutritional biochemistry
  • Maternal and child health
  • Longitudinal cohort studies

Background:

  • Infant folate and cobalamin status are crucial for development.
  • Predictors of these vitamin statuses in infancy require elucidation.
  • Maternal vitamin status and lifestyle factors may influence infant nutrient levels.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify predictors of folate and cobalamin status in infants.
  • To examine the persistence of these predictors throughout the first six months of life.
  • To evaluate the utility of various biomarkers for assessing vitamin status.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 364 mother-infant pairs with blood samples collected during pregnancy, at birth, and at 6 months.
  • Analysis of serum/plasma folate, cobalamin, holotranscobalamin (holoTC), holohaptocorrin (holoHC), methylmalonic acid (MMA), and total homocysteine (tHcy).
  • Multivariate regression models to relate vitamin status to maternal factors, parity, lifestyle, and anthropometry.

Main Results:

  • Maternal folate and cord folate strongly predicted infant folate levels.
  • Maternal holoTC was the best predictor of newborn cobalamin status.
  • Maternal and cord holoHC predicted 6-month cobalamin status; effects of parity, sex, and smoking diminished over time.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal folate and cobalamin status positively impact infant vitamin status long-term.
  • Maternal holoTC is a superior predictor of newborn cobalamin status.
  • HoloHC shows promise as a marker for predicting cobalamin status later in infancy.

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