Maternal serum folate status during early pregnancy: sex-specific association with neonatal adiposity

Periyathambi, N, Sukumar, N, Ghebremichael-Weldeselassie, Y, Adaikalakoteswari, A ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2974-3388, Yajnik, C, Fall, C and Saravanan, P, 2025. Maternal serum folate status during early pregnancy: sex-specific association with neonatal adiposity. Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research and Reviews, 19 (3): 103222. ISSN 1871-4021

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Abstract

Background & aims: Early pregnancy folate has been associated with GDM and possible adiposity in the newborn. The present study examined associations between maternal early pregnancy folate levels and sex-specific neonatal anthropometry. We further explored possible mediation by maternal glycemia on the association between folate and neonatal adiposity.

Methods: Subgroup data (n = 511) from a UK multi-ethnic early pregnancy longitudinal study (micronutrients in Pregnancy as a Risk factor for gestational Diabetes and Effects on mother and baby; PRiDE) was used. Maternal serum folate was assessed during early pregnancy (Mean ± SD = 12.5 ± 1.6 gestational weeks) and infant anthropometry including skinfold thickness (SFT) and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) at birth. Multiple linear regression was performed to analyse the relationship between maternal folate and infant adiposity indices. Interaction analysis was used to identify maternal glucose mediation of this relationship.

Results: Excess folate levels (≥45 nmol/l) were found in 40.3 % pregnant women (n = 206). Early pregnancy folate (1 SD unit) was positively associated with male newborn triceps SFT (std β = 0.17 (95 % CI: 0.06, 0.29; p < 0.05)) after adjusting for key maternal and infant confounders in multiple comparisons using Benjamini-Hochberg procedure. However, no associations were seen in female newborns. No influence of maternal fasting (FPG) and 2-h plasma glucose (2 h-PG) were detected on the association between folate and newborn anthropometry.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest a potential sex-specific influence of maternal folate on infant anthropometric indices. The association between early pregnancy folate on newborn adiposity was not mediated by maternal FPG and/or 2 h-PG at 24-28 weeks.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research and Reviews
Creators:	Periyathambi, N., Sukumar, N., Ghebremichael-Weldeselassie, Y., Adaikalakoteswari, A., Yajnik, C., Fall, C. and Saravanan, P.
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
Date:	March 2025
Volume:	19
Number:	3
ISSN:	1871-4021
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.dsx.2025.103222 DOI 2429714 Other
Rights:	© 2025 Research Trust of DiabetesIndia (DiabetesIndia) and National Diabetes Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation (N-DOC). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	24 Apr 2025 08:59
Last Modified:	24 Apr 2025 08:59
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53443

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