Relationship between body-mass index and serum folate concentrations in pregnant women

Introduction Micronutrient nutrition and metabolism in the general obese population has largely been ignored, particularly in pregnant women (Li et al., 2010). There is increasing scientific evidence for a negative [...]
The concentration of micronutrients impacts fetal development and pregnancy outcome and has been suggested to be negatively correlated with the body-mass index (BMI). We evaluated the relationship between BMI and the serum folate concentration in 802 and 660 Korean pregnant women in mid- and late pregnancy, respectively, who participated in a multicenter prospective study. There was a significant negative correlation between BMI value and the serum folate concentration at mid- and late pregnancy (P for trend 0.001 and 0.024, respectively). A general linear model confirmed this correlation at both time points after adjusting for gestational age and total folate intake. These findings are important as the serum folate concentration is a rate-limiting factor for placental folate transport to the fetus, and an inadequate folate supply may cause various malformations. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2012) 66,136-138; doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2011.160; published online 21 September 2011 Keywords: folate; serum; body-mass index; pregnancy; human; malformations