A high intake of choline around conception reduces risk of neural tube
defects (NTD) finds a study published in American
Journal of Epidemiology
A high intake of choline and maybe betaine around conception reduces risk of neural tube
defects (NTD) finds a study published in American
Journal of Epidemiology. According to the authors this is the
first time that choline has been investigated in relation to neural tube
defects. The researchers suggest that deficiencies in methylation, specifically
the supply of methyl groups by folate and choline and other methyl donors is
associated with neural tube defects.
Neural tube defects are influenced by a variety of nutritional factors. The
best known factor is folate, but increased intakes of methionine, zinc,
vitamin C, dairy products and vitamin B12 reduce NTD risk. Choline and betaine,
like folate are closely linked to methylation of homocysteine to methionine.
Choline is also important in the formation of phospholipids in the cell membrane
and in the formation of neurotransmitters.
Gary Shaw from March of Dimes Birth Defects
Foundation and colleagues interviewed mothers of 424 neural tube defect
cases and 440 controls. They used a food frequency questionnaire to estimate
nutrient intake of the mothers in the 3 months before conception.
They found that women consuming more than 498.46 mg/day of choline had a
risk of having a baby with NTD about one half that of mothers consuming less
than 290.41 mg/day. Combining choline intake with betaine and methionine intake
reduced the risks further. Women whose diets were rich in choline, betaine and
methionine had a risk of a baby with NTD about one fifth of that of mothers with
the lowest intake.
"Our results indicate decreased NTD risks associated with maternal
periconceptional diets containing choline and possibly betaine," say the
researchers. They suggest that choline and other dietary factors may account for
the substantial burden of NTD that remains in the US after fortification of the
food supply with folic acid.
The paper "Periconceptional Dietary Intake of Choline and Betaine and
Neural Tube Defects in Offspring" by Gary M. Shaw, Suzan L.
Carmichael, Wei Yang, Steve Selvin, and Donna M. Schaffer is published in
American Journal of Epidemiology (2004) 160: 102-109.
Abstract
Contact: Gary Shaw, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, California Birth
Defects Monitoring Program, Berkeley, CA, USA
Email: gsh@cbdmp.org