title: Maternal diet modulates the risk for neural tube defects in a mouse model of diabetic pregnancy.
abstract: Pregnancies complicated by maternal diabetes have long been known to carry a higher risk for congenital malformations, such as neural tube defects. Using the FVB inbred mouse strain and the Streptozotocin-induced diabetes model, we tested whether the incidence of neural tube defects in diabetic pregnancies can be modulated by maternal diet. In a comparison of two commercial mouse diets, which are considered nutritionally replete, we found that maternal consumption of the unfavorable diet was associated with a more than 3-fold higher rate of neural tube defects. Our results demonstrate that maternal diet can act as a modifier of the risk for abnormal development in high-risk pregnancies, and provide support for the possibility that neural tube defects in human diabetic pregnancies might be preventable by optimized maternal nutrition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Biology, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, 6400 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA. Claudia.Kappen@pbrc.edu
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kappen
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kruger
authors.forename: Jacalyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: MacGowan
authors.forename: J Michael
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Salbaum
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental; D015987:Effect Modifier, Epidemiologic; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005260:Female; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D051379:Mice; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000196:embryology / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics; D012306:Risk