Maternal choline intake modulates maternal and fetal biomarkers of choline metabolism in humans

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Abstract

Background: In 1998 choline Adequate Intakes of 425 and 450 mg/d were established for nonpregnant and pregnant women, respectively. However, to our knowledge, no dose-response studies have been conducted to evaluate the effects of pregnancy or maternal choline intake on biomarkers of choline metabolism. Objective: We sought to quantify the effects of pregnancy and maternal choline intake on maternal and fetal indicators of choline metabolism. Design: Healthy pregnant (n = 26; 27 wk gestation) and nonpregnant (n = 21) women were randomly assigned to receive 480 or 930 mg choline/d for 12 wk. Fasting blood samples and placental tissue and umbilical cord venous blood were collected and analyzed for choline and its metabolites. Results: Regardless of the choline intake, pregnant women had higher circulating concentrations of choline (30%; P < 0.001) but lower concentrations of betaine, dimethylglycine, sarcosine, and methionine (13-55%; P < 0.001). Obligatory losses of urinary choline and betaine in pregnant women were ∼2-4 times as high (P ≤ 0.02) as those in nonpregnant women. A higher choline intake yielded higher concentrations of choline, betaine, dimethylglycine, and sarcosine (12-46%; P ≤ 0.08) in both pregnant and nonpregnant women without affecting urinary choline excretion. The higher maternal choline intake also led to a doubling of dimethylglycine in cord plasma (P = 0.002). Conclusion: These data suggest that an increment of 25 mg choline/d to meet the demands of pregnancy is insufficient and show that a higher maternal choline intake increases the use of choline as a methyl donor in both maternal and fetal compartments. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01127022. © 2012 American Society for Nutrition.

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Yan, J., Jiang, X., West, A. A., Perry, C. A., Malysheva, O. V., Devapatla, S., … Caudill, M. A. (2012). Maternal choline intake modulates maternal and fetal biomarkers of choline metabolism in humans. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 95(5), 1060–1071. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.111.022772

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