Maternal folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and childhood allergic disease outcomes: A question of timing?
© 2017 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Since the early 1990s, maternal folic acid supplementation has been recommended prior to and during the first trimester of pregnancy, to reduce the risk of infant neural tube defects. In addition, many countries have also implemented the foli...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
MDPI Publishing
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71364 |
| _version_ | 1848762460359622656 |
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| author | McStay, Catrina Prescott, S. Bower, C. Palmer, D. |
| author_facet | McStay, Catrina Prescott, S. Bower, C. Palmer, D. |
| author_sort | McStay, Catrina |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2017 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Since the early 1990s, maternal folic acid supplementation has been recommended prior to and during the first trimester of pregnancy, to reduce the risk of infant neural tube defects. In addition, many countries have also implemented the folic acid fortification of staple foods, in order to promote sufficient intakes amongst women of a childbearing age, based on concerns surrounding variable dietary and supplementation practices. As many women continue to take folic acid supplements beyond the recommended first trimester, there has been an overall increase in folate intakes, particularly in countries with mandatory fortification. This has raised questions on the consequences for the developing fetus, given that folic acid, a methyl donor, has the potential to epigenetically modify gene expression. In animal studies, folic acid has been shown to promote an allergic phenotype in the offspring, through changes in DNA methylation. Human population studies have also described associations between folate status in pregnancy and the risk of subsequent childhood allergic disease. In this review, we address the question of whether ongoing maternal folic acid supplementation after neural tube closure, could be contributing to the rise in early life allergic diseases. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:47:55Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-71364 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:47:55Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | MDPI Publishing |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-713642018-12-13T09:33:29Z Maternal folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and childhood allergic disease outcomes: A question of timing? McStay, Catrina Prescott, S. Bower, C. Palmer, D. © 2017 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Since the early 1990s, maternal folic acid supplementation has been recommended prior to and during the first trimester of pregnancy, to reduce the risk of infant neural tube defects. In addition, many countries have also implemented the folic acid fortification of staple foods, in order to promote sufficient intakes amongst women of a childbearing age, based on concerns surrounding variable dietary and supplementation practices. As many women continue to take folic acid supplements beyond the recommended first trimester, there has been an overall increase in folate intakes, particularly in countries with mandatory fortification. This has raised questions on the consequences for the developing fetus, given that folic acid, a methyl donor, has the potential to epigenetically modify gene expression. In animal studies, folic acid has been shown to promote an allergic phenotype in the offspring, through changes in DNA methylation. Human population studies have also described associations between folate status in pregnancy and the risk of subsequent childhood allergic disease. In this review, we address the question of whether ongoing maternal folic acid supplementation after neural tube closure, could be contributing to the rise in early life allergic diseases. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71364 10.3390/nu9020123 MDPI Publishing restricted |
| spellingShingle | McStay, Catrina Prescott, S. Bower, C. Palmer, D. Maternal folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and childhood allergic disease outcomes: A question of timing? |
| title | Maternal folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and childhood allergic disease outcomes: A question of timing? |
| title_full | Maternal folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and childhood allergic disease outcomes: A question of timing? |
| title_fullStr | Maternal folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and childhood allergic disease outcomes: A question of timing? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Maternal folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and childhood allergic disease outcomes: A question of timing? |
| title_short | Maternal folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and childhood allergic disease outcomes: A question of timing? |
| title_sort | maternal folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and childhood allergic disease outcomes: a question of timing? |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71364 |