Abstract #3880

Folate Intake during Pregnancy is Associated with Greater White Matter Development in the Newborn Brain

Natalie E. Phelan¹, Rajikha Raja², Aline Andres^3,4, and Xiawei Ou^2,3,4,5

¹College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, United States, ²Department of Radiology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, United States, ³Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, United States, ⁴Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, Little Rock, AR, United States, ⁵Arkansas Children's Research Institute, Little Rock, AR, United States

Synopsis

This study examined potential relationships between maternal folate intake during pregnancy and neonatal brain white matter development. Healthy pregnant women were recruited at early pregnancy and their newborns underwent a brain MRI examination at ~2 weeks of age, including diffusion tensor imaging to assess white matter development. We found that folate intake during the second trimester of pregnancy positively correlated with fractional anisotropy (FA) values in brain white matter regions including the genu of corpus callosum and the external capsule. Our findings suggest positive impact of maternal folate intake during pregnancy on offspring brain white matter development.

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