the effects of overintake of folic acid during pregnancy on its fetus and postnatal development

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23700920
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Eating habits, studies on eating habits
• Research Institution: Rakuno Gakuen University
• Principal Investigator: KINTAKA YURI 酪農学園大学, 農食環境学群, 講師 (80420909)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: DOHaD説 / 葉酸 / 妊娠期 / 胎児 / DNAマイクロアレイ / 新生児 / 葉酸サプリメント / 生活習慣病

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To clarify the effects of overintake of folic acid (FA) during pregnancy on its fetus and postnatal development, we carried out DNA microarray analysis and histological examinations.
The pregnant mice were fed control diet (containing 2mg/kg of FA, CN), and FA supplementation diet (containing 40mg/kg of FA, FA) on gestational days 0-18. The fetal tissues were analyzed utilizing an agilent 4x44K whole genome chip in conjunction with a dye-swap approach. FA regulated 138 genes in the brain, and 68 genes in the liver. RT-PCR analysis confirmed expression change of ins2, hmgcs1, ifng, and bdnf genes.Iimmunohistological examination using Ki-67 antibody (a marker of proliferation) revealed that FA increased proliferation in the fetal liver and pancreas. However these increases in proliferation cells were not observed in the neonatal tissues.Our study suggests that overintake of FA during pregnancy may alter gene expression and cell proliferation in the developing fetal tissues.

Free Research Field

栄養学