title: Defying birth defects through diet?
abstract: The risk of certain birth defects can be modified by maternal diet. A high-fat maternal mouse diet has recently been reported to substantially increase the penetrance of birth defects known to be associated with a deficiency of transcription factor Cited2 as well as induce cleft palate. These effects were associated with a more than twofold reduction in embryonic expression of Pitx2c. This investigation suggests the need to further explore this provocative gene-diet interaction in human studies.
authors.affiliation: Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, PO Box 110370, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. folate@ufl.edu.
authors.forename: Krista S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Crider
authors.forename: Lynn B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Bailey