Brain & development
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Brain & development · Mar 2014
Effect of maternal micronutrients (folic acid and vitamin B12) and omega 3 fatty acids on indices of brain oxidative stress in the offspring.
Our earlier studies have shown that a maternal diet imbalanced with micronutrients like folic acid, vitamin B12 has adverse effects on fatty acid metabolism, global methylation patterns and levels of brain neurotrophins in the offspring at birth. However, it is not clear if these effects are mediated through oxidative stress. The role of oxidative stress in influencing epigenetic mechanisms and thereby fetal programming is not well studied. ⋯ Our data shows that maternal micronutrient imbalance adversely affects antioxidant defense mechanisms while omega 3 fatty acid supplementation ameliorates some of the negative effects. Our study throws light on the role of oxidative stress in fetal brain programming and consequential risk for neurodegenerative disorders in later life.