Dietary intake and blood levels of choline in a cohort of Canadian pregnant women and newborn infants (827.9)

Abstract

The developing fetus has a high demand for choline which must be supplied by the mother. To date, very few studies have examined dietary choline intake during pregnancy and its relationship with biomarkers of choline metabolism. We determined dietary intake of choline in 368 pregnant women using a food frequency questionnaire during early and late pregnancy. We measured plasma free choline and metabolite levels in maternal blood samples at 12‐16 weeks gestation and at delivery and in cord blood. Mean dietary choline intake was 313±135 mg/d and did not change appreciably across gestation. Conversely, mean plasma choline levels significantly increased by 49% (p<0.0001), betaine levels significantly decreased by 22% (p<0.0001) and dimethylglycine levels significantly increased by 16% (p<0.0001) from early to late pregnancy. Mean plasma levels of trimethylamine N‐oxide (TMAO) did not change significantly. Maternal dietary choline intake during early pregnancy was only correlated with maternal blood levels of dimethylglycine (r=0.13; p= 0.02) but not with choline, betaine or TMAO levels. Furthermore, maternal plasma choline levels at delivery were not correlated with cord blood choline levels, whereas maternal plasma betaine levels correlated with cord blood betaine levels (r=0.34; p<0.0001). Our data indicate that plasma choline levels significantly increase during pregnancy despite no appreciable change in dietary choline intake and that dietary choline intake does not predict maternal or cord blood levels of choline.Grant Funding Source: Supported by CIHR MOP #106446