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Maternal Folic Acid Supplementation During Pregnancy Improves Neurobehavioral Development in Rat Offspring

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Abstract

Maternal folate status during pregnancy may influence central nervous system (CNS) development in offspring. However, the recommended intakes of folic acid for women of childbearing age differ among countries and there is still no consensus about whether folic acid should be supplemented continuously throughout pregnancy. We hypothesized that folic acid supplementation may be more beneficial for offspring’s neurobehavioral development if prolonged throughout pregnancy instead of being limited to the periconceptional period. In this study, three groups of the female rats were fed folate-normal, folate-deficient, or folate-supplemented diets throughout pregnancy. In another group, the female rats were fed folate-supplemented diet from mating for 10 consecutive days and then fed folate-normal diet for remainder days of pregnancy. The results showed that maternal folate deficiency increased plasma homocysteine (Hcy) concentration in dams, delayed early sensory-motor reflex development, impaired spatial learning and memory ability, and caused ultrastructural damages in the hippocampus of offspring. Maternal folic acid supplementation would be more effective on improving early sensory-motor reflex development and spatial learning and memory ability in offspring if prolonged throughout pregnancy instead of being limited to the periconceptional period. In conclusion, prolonged maternal folic acid supplementation throughout pregnancy would be more effective in neurobehavioral development of offspring in rats.

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Abbreviations

CNS:

Central nervous system

Hcy:

Homocysteine

HHcy:

Hyperhomocysteinemia

MWM:

Morris water maze

NTDs:

Neural tube defects

PND:

Postnatal day

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81472967 and 81602849).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Food Science, School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, 22 Qixiangtai Road, Heping District, Tianjin, 300070, China

    Xinyan Wang, Wen Li, Shou Li, Jing Yan & Guowei Huang

  2. Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA

    John X. Wilson

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  1. Xinyan Wang
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  2. Wen Li
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  3. Shou Li
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  4. Jing Yan
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Correspondence to Guowei Huang.

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Tianjin Medical University Animal Ethics Committee approved the experimental protocols of this study (TMUaEC2015001).

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Wang, X., Li, W., Li, S. et al. Maternal Folic Acid Supplementation During Pregnancy Improves Neurobehavioral Development in Rat Offspring. Mol Neurobiol 55, 2676–2684 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-017-0534-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-017-0534-2

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