HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (Publish Ahead of Print[PDF]) All Versions of this Article: 89/2/673S    most recent ajcn.2008.26811Dv1 Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zeisel, S. H Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zeisel, S. H Agricola Articles by Zeisel, S. H

Importance of methyl donors during reproduction^1,2,3,4

¹ From the Nutrition Research Institute, Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health and School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.

² Presented at the symposium "Methyl Donors, Iodine, and DHA—Is Maternal Supplementation Beneficial?" held at Experimental Biology 2008, San Diego, CA, 6 April 2008.

³ Supported by a grant from the NIH (DK55865, AG09525) and by grants from the NIH to the University of North Carolina (UNC) Clinical Nutrition Research Unit (DK56350), the UNC General Clinical Research Center (RR00046), and the Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility (ES10126).

⁴ Reprints not available. Address correspondence to SH Zeisel, Nutrition Research Institute, Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health and School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, CB# 7461, Chapel Hill, NC 27599. E-mail: steven_zeisel{at}unc.edu.

ABSTRACT

Evidence is growing that optimal dietary intake of folate and choline (both involved in one-carbon transfer or methylation) is important for successful completion of fetal development. Significant portions of the population are eating diets low in one or both of these nutrients. Folates are important for normal neural tube closure in early gestation, and the efficacy of diet fortification with folic acid in reducing incidence of neural tube defects is a major success story for public health nutrition. Similarly, maternal dietary choline is important for normal neural tube closure in the fetus and, later in gestation, for neurogenesis in the fetal hippocampus with effects on memory that persist in adult offspring; higher choline intake is associated with enhanced memory performance. Although both folates and choline have many potentially independent mechanisms whereby they could influence fetal development, these 2 nutrients also have a common mechanism for action: altered methylation and related epigenetic effects on gene expression.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. F. Picciano and M. K McGuire Use of dietary supplements by pregnant and lactating women in North America Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, February 1, 2009; 89(2): 663S - 667S. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. B Zimmermann Iodine deficiency in pregnancy and the effects of maternal iodine supplementation on the offspring: a review Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, February 1, 2009; 89(2): 668S - 672S. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. R Greer Introduction Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, February 1, 2009; 89(2): 661S - 662S. [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. E Carlson Docosahexaenoic acid supplementation in pregnancy and lactation Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, February 1, 2009; 89(2): 678S - 684S. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. H Zeisel Is maternal diet supplementation beneficial? Optimal development of infant depends on mother's diet Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, February 1, 2009; 89(2): 685S - 687S. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]