Cargando…

Infants’ Folate Markers and Postnatal Growth in the First 4 Months of Life in Relation to Breastmilk and Maternal Plasma Folate

Background: Human milk is the sole source of folate in exclusively breastfed infants. We investigated whether human milk folate or maternal plasma folate are associated with infants’ folate status and postnatal growth in the first 4 months of life. Methods: Exclusively breastfed infants (n = 120) we...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Obeid, Rima, Warnke, Ines, Bendik, Igor, Troesch, Barbara, Schoop, Rotraut, Chenal, Elodie, Koletzko, Berthold
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10051157/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36986225
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu15061495
_version_ 1785014809904807936
author Obeid, Rima
Warnke, Ines
Bendik, Igor
Troesch, Barbara
Schoop, Rotraut
Chenal, Elodie
Koletzko, Berthold
author_facet Obeid, Rima
Warnke, Ines
Bendik, Igor
Troesch, Barbara
Schoop, Rotraut
Chenal, Elodie
Koletzko, Berthold
author_sort Obeid, Rima
collection PubMed
description Background: Human milk is the sole source of folate in exclusively breastfed infants. We investigated whether human milk folate or maternal plasma folate are associated with infants’ folate status and postnatal growth in the first 4 months of life. Methods: Exclusively breastfed infants (n = 120) were recruited at age < 1 month (baseline). Blood samples were available at baseline and at the age of 4 months. Plasma and breastmilk samples were available from the mothers at 8 weeks postpartum. The concentrations of (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) and different folate status markers were measured in samples of the infants and their mothers. The z-scores of weight, height, and head circumference of the infants were measured five times between baseline and 4 months. Results: Women with 5-MTHF concentrations in breastmilk <39.9 nmol/L (median) had higher plasma 5-MTHF compared to those with milk 5-MTHF concentrations >39.9 nmol/L (mean (SD) plasma 5-MTHF = 23.3 (16.5) vs. 16.6 (11.9) nmol/L; p = 0.015). At the age of 4 months, infants of women who were higher suppliers of 5-MTHF in breastmilk had higher plasma folate than those of low-supplier women (39.2 (16.1) vs. 37.4 (22.4) nmol/L; adjusted p = 0.049). The concentrations of breastmilk 5-MTHF and maternal plasma folate were not associated with infants’ longitudinal anthropometric measurements between baseline and 4 months. Conclusions: Higher 5-MTHF in breastmilk was associated with higher folate status in the infants and the depletion of folate in maternal circulation. No associations were seen between maternal or breastmilk folate and infants’ anthropometrics. Adaptive mechanisms might counteract the effect of low milk folate on infant development.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10051157
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-100511572023-03-30 Infants’ Folate Markers and Postnatal Growth in the First 4 Months of Life in Relation to Breastmilk and Maternal Plasma Folate Obeid, Rima Warnke, Ines Bendik, Igor Troesch, Barbara Schoop, Rotraut Chenal, Elodie Koletzko, Berthold Nutrients Article Background: Human milk is the sole source of folate in exclusively breastfed infants. We investigated whether human milk folate or maternal plasma folate are associated with infants’ folate status and postnatal growth in the first 4 months of life. Methods: Exclusively breastfed infants (n = 120) were recruited at age < 1 month (baseline). Blood samples were available at baseline and at the age of 4 months. Plasma and breastmilk samples were available from the mothers at 8 weeks postpartum. The concentrations of (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) and different folate status markers were measured in samples of the infants and their mothers. The z-scores of weight, height, and head circumference of the infants were measured five times between baseline and 4 months. Results: Women with 5-MTHF concentrations in breastmilk <39.9 nmol/L (median) had higher plasma 5-MTHF compared to those with milk 5-MTHF concentrations >39.9 nmol/L (mean (SD) plasma 5-MTHF = 23.3 (16.5) vs. 16.6 (11.9) nmol/L; p = 0.015). At the age of 4 months, infants of women who were higher suppliers of 5-MTHF in breastmilk had higher plasma folate than those of low-supplier women (39.2 (16.1) vs. 37.4 (22.4) nmol/L; adjusted p = 0.049). The concentrations of breastmilk 5-MTHF and maternal plasma folate were not associated with infants’ longitudinal anthropometric measurements between baseline and 4 months. Conclusions: Higher 5-MTHF in breastmilk was associated with higher folate status in the infants and the depletion of folate in maternal circulation. No associations were seen between maternal or breastmilk folate and infants’ anthropometrics. Adaptive mechanisms might counteract the effect of low milk folate on infant development. MDPI 2023-03-20 /pmc/articles/PMC10051157/ /pubmed/36986225 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu15061495 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Obeid, Rima
Warnke, Ines
Bendik, Igor
Troesch, Barbara
Schoop, Rotraut
Chenal, Elodie
Koletzko, Berthold
Infants’ Folate Markers and Postnatal Growth in the First 4 Months of Life in Relation to Breastmilk and Maternal Plasma Folate
title Infants’ Folate Markers and Postnatal Growth in the First 4 Months of Life in Relation to Breastmilk and Maternal Plasma Folate
title_full Infants’ Folate Markers and Postnatal Growth in the First 4 Months of Life in Relation to Breastmilk and Maternal Plasma Folate
title_fullStr Infants’ Folate Markers and Postnatal Growth in the First 4 Months of Life in Relation to Breastmilk and Maternal Plasma Folate
title_full_unstemmed Infants’ Folate Markers and Postnatal Growth in the First 4 Months of Life in Relation to Breastmilk and Maternal Plasma Folate
title_short Infants’ Folate Markers and Postnatal Growth in the First 4 Months of Life in Relation to Breastmilk and Maternal Plasma Folate
title_sort infants’ folate markers and postnatal growth in the first 4 months of life in relation to breastmilk and maternal plasma folate
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10051157/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36986225
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu15061495
work_keys_str_mv AT obeidrima infantsfolatemarkersandpostnatalgrowthinthefirst4monthsoflifeinrelationtobreastmilkandmaternalplasmafolate
AT warnkeines infantsfolatemarkersandpostnatalgrowthinthefirst4monthsoflifeinrelationtobreastmilkandmaternalplasmafolate
AT bendikigor infantsfolatemarkersandpostnatalgrowthinthefirst4monthsoflifeinrelationtobreastmilkandmaternalplasmafolate
AT troeschbarbara infantsfolatemarkersandpostnatalgrowthinthefirst4monthsoflifeinrelationtobreastmilkandmaternalplasmafolate
AT schooprotraut infantsfolatemarkersandpostnatalgrowthinthefirst4monthsoflifeinrelationtobreastmilkandmaternalplasmafolate
AT chenalelodie infantsfolatemarkersandpostnatalgrowthinthefirst4monthsoflifeinrelationtobreastmilkandmaternalplasmafolate
AT koletzkoberthold infantsfolatemarkersandpostnatalgrowthinthefirst4monthsoflifeinrelationtobreastmilkandmaternalplasmafolate