title: Low maternal vitamin B12 status is associated with lower cord blood HDL cholesterol in white Caucasians living in the UK.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Studies in South Asian population show that low maternal vitamin B12 associates with insulin resistance and small for gestational age in the offspring. Low vitamin B12 status is attributed to vegetarianism in these populations. It is not known whether low B12 status is associated with metabolic risk of the offspring in whites, where the childhood metabolic disorders are increasing rapidly. Here, we studied whether maternal B12 levels associate with metabolic risk of the offspring at birth.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a cross-sectional study of 91 mother-infant pairs (n = 182), of white Caucasian origin living in the UK. Blood samples were collected from white pregnant women at delivery and their newborns (cord blood). Serum vitamin B12, folate, homocysteine as well as the relevant metabolic risk factors were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of low serum vitamin B12 (<191 ng/L) and folate (<4.6 μg/L) were 40% and 11%, respectively. Maternal B12 was inversely associated with offspring's Homeostasis Model Assessment 2-Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), triglycerides, homocysteine and positively with HDL-cholesterol after adjusting for age and BMI. In regression analysis, after adjusting for likely confounders, maternal B12 is independently associated with neonatal HDL-cholesterol and homocysteine but not triglycerides or HOMA-IR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study shows that low B12 status is common in white women and is independently associated with adverse cord blood cholesterol.
authors: Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV2 2DX, UK. A.K.Antonysunil@warwick.ac.uk.
authors: Antonysunil
authors: A
authors: Adaikalakoteswari
authors: Nuffield Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK. manu.vatish@obs-gyn.ox.ac.uk.
authors: Manu
authors: M
authors: Vatish
authors: Department of Pathology, Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham B9 5SS, UK. alexander.lawson@heartofengland.nhs.uk.
authors: Alexander
authors: A
authors: Lawson
authors: Academic department of Diabetes and Metabolism, George Eliot Hospital, Nuneaton CV10 7DJ, UK. Catherine.Wood@geh.nhs.uk.
authors: Catherine
authors: C
authors: Wood
authors: Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV2 2DX, UK. K.Sivakumar@warwick.ac.uk.
authors: Kavitha
authors: K
authors: Sivakumar
authors: Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV2 2DX, UK. P.G.McTernan@warwick.ac.uk.
authors: Philip G
authors: PG
authors: McTernan
authors: Department of Pathology, Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham B9 5SS, UK. craig.webster@heartofengland.nhs.uk.
authors: Craig
authors: C
authors: Webster
authors: Academic department of Diabetes and Metabolism, George Eliot Hospital, Nuneaton CV10 7DJ, UK. neil.anderson@geh.nhs.uk.
authors: Neil
authors: N
authors: Anderson
authors: Diabetes Research Centre, KEM Hospital, Pune 411011, India. csyajnik@hotmail.com.
authors: Chittaranjan S
authors: CS
authors: Yajnik
authors: Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV2 2DX, UK. G.Tripathi@warwick.ac.uk.
authors: Gyanendra
authors: G
authors: Tripathi
authors: Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV2 2DX, UK. P.Saravanan@warwick.ac.uk.|Academic department of Diabetes and Metabolism, George Eliot Hospital, Nuneaton CV10 7DJ, UK. P.Saravanan@warwick.ac.uk.|WISDEM Centre, University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, Coventry CV2 2DX, UK. P.Saravanan@warwick.ac.uk.
authors: Ponnusamy
authors: P
authors: Saravanan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D014676:Diet, Vegetarian; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry*; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000097:blood; D005865:Gestational Age; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D006113:United Kingdom; D014805:Vitamin B 12 / Q000097:blood*; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D007328:Insulin; D014280:Triglycerides; D006710:Homocysteine; D005492:Folic Acid; D014805:Vitamin B 12