Maternal folate levels crucial to children's brain development
Children’s brain and poorer cognitive performance linked with low-folate status in mothers’ early pregnancy
Newly released results about the association between prenatal folate status and children’s brain anatomy have been presented in research published in the British Journal of Nutrition in early 2016. The study1 was carried out at the Erasmus University Medical Center, in the Netherlands, and is part of the Generation R Study, which looked at nearly 10,000 pregnant Dutch women in a period between 2002 and 2006.
The research suggests that prenatal maternal folate deficiency in early pregnancy has a long-lasting global effect on brain development in offspring and has been associated with smaller total brain volume, poorer language and visuo-spatial performance in children aged between 6 and 8 years.
Maternal folate (active form 5-methyltetrahydrofolate) concentration of mothers enrolled in the Generation R Study, was measured in plasma and considered to provide a more objective and reliable index of folate status. Even if adequate folate levels were more likely to use folic acid supplements it is impressive that 35.5% of the mothers with low folate level in blood use folic acid supplement.
Several factors may intervene in reaching the right level of the active 5-MTHF form of folate in the blood. Humans cannot synthesise folate and because of its water soluble nature, the body stores folate to a limited extent. Low folate in the blood may occur not only for reasons of inadequate dietary intake, but also because of the potential limited ability of some people to metabolise folic acid to the active form (5-MTHF).
The enzymatic conversion of folate/folic acid to the active 5-MTHF is a multi-step process where the enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) plays a key role. Some individuals, due to their unique genetic patterns and expression, have polymorphic forms of this enzyme and do not produce adequate or effective MTHFR. MTHFR gene mutations affect over 40% of the world population; however, sadly this is largely ignored.
Details of the study
The primary aim of the present study was to investigate the association between maternal folate status during early pregnancy and child’s brain development, as indexed by brain volume of 6-8-year-old children. The secondary aim was to explore whether brain volume accounted for any association between prenatal folate status and the occurrence of cognitive performance or emotional and behavioural problems in the same study sample.
The results of this study are extremely interesting because, a correlation is found between the low level of folate in the mothers during pregnancy and children’s brain anatomy at the age of six and eight. In the future, it remains to be investigated whether this effect is permanent, hence still visible in adolescence and adulthood.
In conclusion, this work supports the recommendations for prenatal use of folate, that even in the absence of neural tube defects, subtle differences can be seen related to brain growth.
Source of folate
Quatrefolic, as a source of the active form of folate - the (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) form - can be the first choice in the folate supplementation. Quatrefolic maximises the benefit of folate supplementation, protecting mothers in pregnancy and, according to the study above, young children.
Most folate consumption comes from man-made versions of folic acid in supplements and added to foods. Folic acid (like food folate) is inactive and needs to be metabolized to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) to become metabolically effective. Today we know that the folic acid has a complex metabolisation and that people taking folic acid may still be gravely folate deficient because of the big variations in how efficiently folic acid is converted to the bioactive form in different people.
Quatrefolic can reach the systemic circulation already in the biologically active form of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, without any kind of metabolisation. 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) is the main folate form in blood and cord serum and can enter the folate cycle directly. Clinical evidence suggests that supplementation of the natural form, 5-MTHF such as Quatrefolic, is a better alternative to supplementation of folic acid, and that it can effectively improve folate biomarkers in young women in early pregnancy.
Quatrefolic is a patented ingredient property of Gnosis with strong intellectual property made up of two international patents granted in USA and in several other countries worldwide, about the new chemical entity and the process to obtain it (US 7,947,662, EP 2245032 and EP 2254890) and covers applications and combinations with other actives in several dosage forms.
Reference
1. Ars et al 2016 - Prenatal folate, homocysteine and vitamin B12 levels and child brain volumes, cognitive development and psychological functioning
