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Absorption of pteroylpolyglutamates in mothers of infants with neural tube defects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Carol Bower ,
Fiona J. Stanley ,
Maxine Croft ,
Nicholas H. De Klerk ,
Richard E. Davis  and
Darryl J. Nicol
Carol Bower
Affiliation:
Western Australian Research Institute for Child Health, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, GPO Box D 184, 6001, Western Australia, Australia
Fiona J. Stanley
Affiliation:
Western Australian Research Institute for Child Health, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, GPO Box D 184, 6001, Western Australia, Australia
Maxine Croft
Affiliation:
Western Australian Research Institute for Child Health, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, GPO Box D 184, 6001, Western Australia, Australia
Nicholas H. De Klerk
Affiliation:
Western Australian Research Institute for Child Health, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, GPO Box D 184, 6001, Western Australia, Australia
Richard E. Davis
Affiliation:
Department of Haematology, Royal Perth Hospital, GPO Box X2213, Perth 6001, Western Australia, Australia
Darryl J. Nicol
Affiliation:
Department of Haematology, Royal Perth Hospital, GPO Box X2213, Perth 6001, Western Australia, Australia
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Abstract

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The ability to hydrolyse and absorb pteroylpolyglutamates (PteGlun) included in a standard meal in mothers who had given birth to an infant with a neural tube defect was tested by comparing them with mothers who had not had any infants with this defect. When compared with control mothers working in the research unit in which the study was performed, case mothers had significantly lower baseline serum and erythrocyte folate levels, and smaller increases in serum folate following the meal containing PteGlun. However, all estimates of folate were similar when case mothers were compared with a group of mothers who were friends of the case mothers. The results show that the higher the baseline levels of serum and erythrocyte folate the greater the increase in serum folate after the test meal. Fitting a model for the serum folate response curve resulted in coefficients which differed significantly between case mothers and all control mothers. We conclude that intestinal hydrolysis of PteGlun taken orally is not impaired in mothers who have had infants with neural tube defects when compared with control mothers with similar baseline folate levels, although the curves describing the response to the meal for the two groups do differ significantly. Further investigation is required to determine the mechanism underlying this difference.

Keywords

Folic acidNeural tube defectsInfants
Type
Vitamin Metabolism
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 69 , Issue 3 , May 1993 , pp. 827 - 834
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1993

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