John Hollingsworth and colleagues, at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, have generated evidence in mice that a maternal diet rich in methyl donors, of which one source is the prenatal supplement folate, increases the chance that the developing fetus will suffer from asthma after birth.
In the study, the development and severity of allergic airway disease (the experimental equivalent of asthma) was found to be enhanced in mice born to mothers who had eaten a diet supplemented with methyl donors. In addition, enhanced development and severity of allergic airway disease was observed in mice born to those exposed to methyl donors in utero, i.e. the problems were inherited. Further analysis indicated that some genes in the mice exposed to methyl donors in utero were modified by methylation in a different way to mice not exposed to methyl donors in utero. This change in the pattern of methylation, altered the expression of the genes and is likely to be the underlying cause of the increased development and severity of allergic airway disease. Both the authors and, in an accompanying commentary, Rachel Miller, at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, discuss the potential implications of this study in light of the fact that folate is a source of methyl donors and is an important prenatal supplement that helps prevent congential abnormalities. As they caution, it is important to determine if the same effects occur in humans before changing the current recommendations about prenatal supplementation.
TITLE: In utero supplementation with methyl donors enhances allergic airway disease in mice
AUTHOR CONTACT:
John W. Hollingsworth
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Phone: (919) 684-4588; Fax: (919) 684-3067; E-mail: holli017@mc.duke.edu .
MEDIA CONTACT:
Mary Jane Gore
Duke Medicine News and Communications, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Phone: 919-660-1309 (office) or 919-323-0179 (cell); E-mail : mary.gore@duke.edu .
William Allstetter
National Jewish Health, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Phone: (303) 398-1002; E-mail: allstetterw@njc.org .
View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci.org/article.php?id=34378
ACCOMPANYING COMMENTARY
TITLE: Prenatal maternal diet affects asthma risk in offspring
Rachel L. Miller
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York, USA.
Phone: (212) 305-7759; Fax: (212) 305-2277; Email: rlm14@columbia.edu .
View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci.org/article.php?id=37171
Journal of Clinical Investigation