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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
Fetal alcohol syndrome: cardiac birth defects in mice and prevention with folate
Maria Serrano1, Mingda Han, Pilar Brinez
1Pediatric Residency Program, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
Objective:
Alcohol (ethanol) consumption during pregnancy is linked to congenital heart defects that are associated with fetal alcohol syndrome. Recent reports have associated ethanol exposure with the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway. Therefore, we defined whether ethanol affects Wnt/beta-catenin signaling during cardiac cell specification.
Study Design:
Pregnant mice on embryonic day 6.75 during gastrulation were exposed by an intraperitoneal injection to a binge-drinking dose of ethanol. Folic acid supplementation of mouse diet was tested for the prevention of ethanol-induced cardiac birth defects.
Results:
Acute ethanol exposure induced myocardial wall changes and atrioventricular and semilunar valve defects, which was determined by echocardiography on embryonic day 15.5. A high folate diet prevented the ethanol-induced cardiac defects. Ethanol exposure in avian embryos suppressed 2 key Wnt-modulated genes that are involved in cardiac induction; folic acid rescued normal gene expression.
Conclusion:
Folic acid supplementation alone or with myoinositol prevented alcohol potentiation of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling that allowed normal gene activation and cardiogenesis.
