Maternal folate deficiency and metabolic dysfunction in offspring.

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Epigenetics
• Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)

Background:

• Folate's importance in pregnancy is known, but early nutritional insults may interact with later over-nutrition.
• Maternal methyl donor supply, particularly folate, has potential long-term effects on offspring metabolic health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review evidence on maternal folate supply's long-term effects on offspring metabolic health.
• To propose and test the hypothesis that epigenetic mechanisms, like DNA methylation, mediate these effects.

Main Methods:

• Review of human studies providing proof of principle.
• A mouse model (C57Bl/6) with maternal randomization to low or normal folate diets before and during pregnancy/lactation.

Main Results:

• Low maternal folate supply led to offspring more susceptible to high-fat diet-induced metabolic dysfunction.
• Increased circulating triglyceride (TAG) concentration was observed in offspring fed a high-fat diet, without changes in adiposity.

Conclusions:

• Maternal folate status during early development can program offspring for metabolic susceptibility.
• Epigenetic mechanisms may underlie the long-term metabolic consequences of early nutritional insults, warranting further investigation.