Risk of neural tube defect-affected pregnancies among obese women

Article Abstract:

The risk of neural tube defects (NTDs) appears to be higher in the infants of women who were obese before pregnancy, but it is not clear why. An example of a NTD is spina bifida, which occurs when the spinal column does not completely close over the spinal cord. Researchers used a database of medical records for 538 infants born with NTD that included information about the mother. Compared to women weighing between 48 and 77 kilograms (kg), women weighing over 100 kg were twice as likely to have a baby with NTD. Shortness was also associated with a higher risk of having a baby with NTD. Women with a body mass index of 38 kilograms per meter squared (kg/m2) or greater were 2.6 times more likely to have a baby with NTD than women with a body mass index of 19 to 27 kg/m2. This association persisted even after excluding women with diabetes. There was no association between folic acid intake, high blood pressure or any other nutritional factor and high risk of NTD.

Complications and side effects, Obesity

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Maternal vitamin use, genetic variation of infant methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, and risk for spina bifida

Article Abstract:

Infants born with a genetic defect, the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene variant, may be at a slightly higher risk for spina bifida. Researchers examined the interaction between maternal vitamin supplementation and the rate of spina bifida in 214 infants born with spina bifida and 503 controls. There was a minimal link between maternal use of folic acid and the mutant genotype, suggesting a possible genetic link to the mother.

Research, Gene mutations, Gene mutation, Folic acid

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Maternal supplemental and dietary zinc intake and the occurrence of neural tube defects in California

Article Abstract:

Maternal dietary and supplemental zinc intake and occurrence of neural tube defects (NTDs) are discussed relative to a population-based case-control study in California. The study covered 430 NTD-affected fetuses/infants with 429 controls. It is not clear that increased zinc intake or another nutrient or combination of nutrients highly correlated with zinc in the diet is associated in a causal way with lower NTD risk.

California, Statistical Data Included, Physiological aspects, Nutrition, Vegetarianism, Zinc in the body, Zinc (Nutrient), Nutritional requirements, Anencephaly

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