Work

Maternal Dietary Glycemic Intake and the Risk of Neural Tube Defects

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: Both maternal diabetes and obesity have been associated with an increased risk of neural tube defects (NTD), possibly due to a sustained state of hyperglycemia and/or hyperinsulinemia. Data were collected in the Boston University Slone Birth Defects Study (a case-control study) from 1988 to 1998. The authors examined whether high dietary glycemic index (DGI) and high dietary glycemic load (DGL) increased the risk of NTDs in nondiabetic women. Mothers of NTD cases and nonmalformed controls were interviewed in person within 6 months after delivery about diet and other exposures. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated from logistic regression for high DGI (> or =60) and high DGL (> or =205), with cutpoints determined by cubic spline. Of 698 case mothers, 25% had high DGI and 4% had high DGL. Of 696 control mothers, 15% had high DGI and 2% had high DGL. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors and other dietary factors, the odds ratio for high DGI was 1.5 (95% confidence interval: 1.1, 2.0); for high DGL, it was 1.8 (95% confidence interval: 0.8, 4.0). Diets with proportionally high DGI or DGL may put the developing fetus at risk of an NTD, adding further evidence that hyperglycemia lies within the pathogenic pathway.

Source: American Journal of Epidemiology

DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwp395

Authors: M. M. Yazdy, S. Liu, A. A. Mitchell, M. M. Werler

Institution: Boston University

Language: English

Topic: Folate and B Vitamins Research

Subfield: Rheumatology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development