4.6 Review

A crucial role for maternal dietary methyl donor intake in epigenetic programming and fetal growth outcomes

Journal

NUTRITION REVIEWS
Volume 76, Issue 6, Pages 469-478

Publisher

OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/nutrit/nuy006

Keywords

chronic disease; epigenetics; fetal growth; maternal nutrition; one-carbon metabolism

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The fetal origins of health and disease framework has identified extremes in fetal growth and birth weight as factors associated with the lifelong generation of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension. Maternal nutrition plays a critical role in fetal and placental development, in part by providing the methyl groups required to establish the fetus's genome structure and function, notably through DNA methylation. The goal of this narrative review is to describe the role of maternal dietary methyl donor (methionine, folate, and choline) and cofactor (zinc and vitamins B-2, B-6, and B-12) intake in one-carbon metabolism and DNA methylation in the fetus and placenta, as well as their impacts on fetal growth and lifelong health outcomes, with specific examples in animals and humans. Based on the available evidence, it is concluded that intake of different amounts of dietary methyl donors and cofactors during pregnancy may alter fetal growth and development, thus establishing a major link between early environmental exposure and disease development in the offspring later in life.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.6
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available