Objective

To explore the relationship between maternal folate levels during pregnancy and children’s neuropsychological development at 2 years of age.

Methods

In the birth cohort MKFOAD, maternal serum folate concentrations at 12–14, 22–26, and 34–36 weeks of gestation were measured, as well as red blood cell (RBC) folate at 12–14 weeks. Neurodevelopment of 2-year-old children was assessed by Gesell Development Scale (GDS), which contained subscales of gross motor, fine motor, language, adaptive behavior, and social behavior. Linear regression models were applied to investigate the association of maternal folate levels with children’s developmental quotients (DQs).

Results

One hundred and eighty singleton children participated the GDS assessment, of whom 97 (53.9%) were boys. Median RBC folate concentration was 1002.8 (IQR = 577.6) nmol L⁻¹ in early pregnancy and median serum folate concentrations were, respectively, 33.9 (IQR = 9.2) nmol L⁻¹, 26.3 (IQR = 14.3) nmol L⁻¹, and 26.7 (IQR = 18.9) nmol L⁻¹. Maternal serum folate concentration in late pregnancy was significantly associated with children’s language development, where language DQ increases by 3.1 (95% CI 0.6, 5.5) for every 10 nmol L⁻¹ increment of serum folate concentration. And maternal serum folate in early pregnancy was significantly associated with children’s fine motor development, with 2.0 (95% CI 0.1, 4.0) DQ decrease for 10 nmol L⁻¹ increase of serum folate.

Conclusions

Maternal serum folate in late pregnancy was significantly associated with children’s language development at age 2, which supports the importance of remaining folic acid supplementation across the entire gestation. However, maternal serum folate in early pregnancy was also inversely associated with children’s fine motor development.

中文翻译：

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孕妇孕期叶酸水平与2岁儿童的神经心理发育

目的

探讨孕期孕妇叶酸水平与2岁儿童神经心理发育之间的关系。

方法

在出生队列MKFOAD中，测量了孕期12-14、22-26和34-36周的孕妇血清叶酸浓度，以及12-14周时的红细胞（RBC）叶酸浓度。通过Gesell发展量表（GDS）评估了2岁儿童的神经发育，该量表包括运动量，精细运动，语言，适应行为和社交行为的子量表。线性回归模型用于研究母体叶酸水平与儿童发育商（DQs）的关系。

结果

一百八十个单身儿童参加了GDS评估，其中97个（53.9％）是男孩。平均红细胞叶酸浓度为1002.8（IQR = 577.6）纳摩尔大号^-1在妊娠早期和中值血清叶酸浓度分别为33.9（IQR = 9.2）纳摩尔大号^-1，26.3（IQR = 14.3）纳摩尔大号^-1，和26.7（IQR = 18.9）nmol L ^-1。孕晚期孕妇的血清叶酸浓度与儿童的语言发展显着相关，其中语言DQ每10 nmol L ^-1增加3.1（95％CI 0.6，5.5）增加血清叶酸浓度。孕妇早期妊娠期的血清叶酸与儿童的精细运动发育显着相关，血清叶酸的增加10 nmol L ^-1可使DQ降低2.0（95％CI 0.1，4.0）。

结论

孕晚期孕妇的血清叶酸与2岁儿童的语言发展显着相关，这支持在整个妊娠期间保持补充叶酸的重要性。然而，孕早期孕妇的血清叶酸也与儿童的精细运动发育呈负相关。