Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Researchers found an 80% increased risk of neural tube defects when choline levels were deficient (< 2.71 millimoles/Liter) and a 60% reduced risk of neural tube defects when choline levels were sufficient (> 3.21 mmol/L).
A new study (1) has found that choline may play a role in a healthy pregnancy by helping protect against neural tube defects. In the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 180,000 pregnant women in California from 2003 through 2005. They compared the blood samples of 80 women who delivered a baby with neural tube defects to 409 samples from women with babies without neural tube defects.
The researchers found from all the factors examined in the blood samples, from B-vitamins to c-reactive protein, there was an 80% increased risk of neural tube defects when choline levels were deficient (< 2.71 millimoles/Liter) while there was a 60% reduced risk of neural tube defects when choline levels were sufficient (> 3.21 mmol/L).
When suggesting why choline deficiency may promote neural tube defects, the researchers pointed to choline’s role in forming cell membranes and being a building block for an important nerve chemical in the brain called acetylcholine (2). For the researchers, in regards to choline, “low levels were a risk factor and higher levels were a protective factor for neural tube defects.”
Source: Shaw, Gary M., et al. “Choline and risk of neural tube defects in a folate-fortified population.” Epidemiology 20.5 (2009): 714-719.
© 2009 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.
Posted April 9, 2010.
References:
- Honein MA. Impact of folic acid fortification of the US food supply on the occurrence of neural tube defects. JAMA. 2001;285:2981–6.
- Zeisel SH. Choline: needed for normal development of memory. J Am Coll Nutr. 2000;19:528S–531S.
