title: Folic Acid Supplementation of Female Mice, with or without Vitamin B-12, before and during Pregnancy and Lactation Programs Adiposity and Vascular Health in Adult Male Offspring.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The developmental origins of health and disease theory suggest that disturbances in the fetal and early postnatal environment contribute to chronic adulthood diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Greater adiposity and insulin resistance have been reported in children of women with high erythrocyte folate but poor vitamin B-12 status during pregnancy. The mechanisms underlying this relation are not known.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of maternal supplemental folic acid, with or without vitamin B-12, on adiposity, glucose homeostasis, and vascular health in adult male offspring mice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Female C57BL/6J mice were fed a control diet (M-CON, 2 mg folic acid/kg, 50 μg vitamin B-12/kg) or a folic acid-supplemented diet with [10 mg folic acid/kg, 50 μg vitamin B-12/kg (SFA+B12)] or without [10 mg folic acid/kg, no vitamin B-12 (SFA-B12)] vitamin B-12 for 6 wk before mating and during pregnancy and lactation. The offspring were weaned onto a control diet (16% energy from fat) or a western diet (45% energy from fat) until 23 wk of age. The effects of maternal diet on adiposity, vascular function, and glucose tolerance were assessed in 6 groups of adult male offspring: control diet-fed M-CON, SFA+B12, and SFA-B12 and western diet-fed M-CON, SFA+B12, and SFA-B12.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Control and western diet-fed SFA-B12 and SFA+B12 offspring had smaller visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue than M-CON offspring (P < 0.05). Control SFA-B12 and SFA+B12 offspring had lower serum total adiponectin and vitamin B-12 concentrations and lower NADPH oxidase 2 expression in aorta compared with M-CON offspring (P < 0.05). These effects were not observed in western diet-fed offspring.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Folic acid supplementation of female mice before and during pregnancy and lactation, with or without dietary vitamin B-12, affects adult male offspring adiposity, vascular function, and one-carbon metabolism in those fed a control diet but not a western diet.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Rika E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Aleliunas
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Nutrition and Health, Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Abeer M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Aljaadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Ismail
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Laher
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Melissa B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Glier
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Nutrition and Health, Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Tim J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutritional Sciences, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutritional Sciences, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ.
authors.forename: Joshua W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada.|Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Angela M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Devlin
keywords: adiposity; developmental programming; folate; glucose intolerance; vitamin B-12