Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 13, 2026

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 homocysteine and related B vitamins as risk factors for low birthweight
Marije Hogeveen1, Henk J Blom, Elisabeth H van der Heijden
1Department of Pediatrics, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Objective:
We designed a large prospective study to explore the relationship between maternal homocysteine concentrations and related B vitamins and birthweight.
Study Design:
Blood was sampled from pregnant women at 30-34 weeks of gestation and their newborn infants (n = 366).
Results:
Concentrations of all analytes were higher in umbilical cord compared with maternal samples. Birthweight was related negatively to maternal homocysteine (r = -0.12) but not related to maternal cobalamin, methylmalonic acid, and folate (r = 0.02, r = 0.06, and r = 0.04, respectively). Regression analysis revealed smoking (beta = -313; 95% confidence interval [CI], -479 to -149), gestational age (beta = 150; 95% CI, 118-182), female sex (beta = -146; 95% CI, -256 to -35), and parity (beta = 104; 95% CI, 37-171) as strong determinants of birthweight. Maternal homocysteine, cobalamin, methylmalonic acid, and folate were not determinants of birthweight in multivariate analysis.
Conclusion:
Maternal homocysteine and B vitamins are not related to birthweight in a multivariate model that was adjusted for potential confounders.
Related Concept Videos
Vitamins
Teratogenicity
Development of the Oral Microbiota
Probability Laws
Development of Human Microbiota
Inborn Errors of Metabolism