Effect of synthetic folic acid surplus on neurological symptoms in offspring

Abstract

Background. It has long been known about the need for folic acid for the vital activity of both macro-and microorganisms. It is necessary for the processes of methylation, nucleotide synthesis and also the formation of methionine and reducing the toxic effect of homocysteine. The addition of synthetic folic acid to the diet of pregnant women, as well as at the stage of pre-pregnancy preparation, significantly reduces the risks of fetal neural tube defects, heart defects, and possibly other organs and systems of the body. In addition, folic acid can help improve fertility potential. However, there is evidence of adverse effects of folic acid proficite on the health of older adults (hiding B12-deficient status) and the offspring of mothers taking high doses prescribed by medical specialists like a risks of infectious-inflammatory and allergic diseases of the upper respiratory tract in children, eczema, also disorders of psychomotor development and insulin resistance. In 1980, the direct excitatory effect of folic acid on synaptic transmission in the central nervous system was proved. This is due to the molecular structure, it contains L-glutamate.
 Therefore, the aim of the work was trying to prove the existing correlation data on probable neuropathologies, including a reduced threshold of seizures, a high risk of epilepsy in a model of offspring of Wistar rats with an increased dosage of folate throughout gestation and including at the stage of pre-gravidar preparation.
 Methods. We have determined the ability to the first convulsive act by introducing a 20% solution of caffeine at the rate of 100 mg/kg of weight intraperitoneally.
 Results. In the control group, the average clonus time was 1779.6 seconds, in the experimental group with a 1 mg/kg folic acid per diet dosage of 797.3 seconds, and in the second group with a 5 mg/kg folic acid per diet 439.7 seconds (p 0,01).
 Conclusion. The obtained results of the difference in the convulsive threshold may be due to changes in synaptic density as a result of an excess of synthetic folic acid during the formation of NT and subsequently during the differentiation of nervous tissue in the central nervous system (in particular, in the 3rd trimester with a massive appearance of glutamatergic receptors), which can affect the processes of neurogenesis and the formation of neural networks.