Good Maternal Choline Intake Boosts Childs Mental Health

ROCHESTER, N.Y.Consuming greater amounts of choline, a nutrient found naturally in eggs, meat, beans and cruciferous vegetables, during pregnancy may lower an infants vulnerability to stress-related illnesses, such as mental health disturbances, and chronic conditions like hypertension, later in life, according to a new study published in the FASEB Journal.

Nutrition scientists and obstetricians at Cornell University and the University of Rochester Medical Center found that higher-than-normal amounts of choline in the diet during pregnancy changed epigenetic markers in the fetus. While epigenetic markers dont change our genes, they make a permanent imprint by dictating their fate: If a gene is not expressedturned onits as if it didnt exist.

The finding became particularly exciting when researchers discovered that the affected markers were those that regulated the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal or HPA axis, which controls virtually all hormone activity in the body, including the production of the hormone cortisol that reflects the bodys response to stress and regulates our metabolism. More choline in the mothers diet led to a more stable HPA axis and, consequently, less cortisol in the fetus. Past research has shown that early exposure to high levels of cortisol, often a result of a mothers anxiety or depression, can increase a babys lifelong risk of stress-related and metabolic disorders.

The study is important because it shows that a relatively simple nutrient can have significant effects in prenatal life, and that these effects likely continue to have a long-lasting influence on adult life," said Eva K. Pressman, M.D., study author and director of the high-risk pregnancy program at the University of Rochester Medical Center. While our results wont change practice at this point, the idea that maternal choline intake could essentially change fetal genetic expression into adulthood is quite novel."

For the study, the researchers studied 26 pregnant women in their third trimester who were assigned to take 480 mg of choline per day, an amount slightly above the standard recommendation of 450 mg per day, or about double that amount, 930 mg per day. The choline was derived from the diet and from supplements and was consumed up until delivery.

They found higher maternal choline intake led to a greater amount of DNA methylation, a process in which methyl groupsone carbon atom linked to three hydrogen atomsare added to our DNA. Choline is one of a handful of nutrients that provides methyl groups for this process. The addition of a single methyl group is all it takes to change an individuals epigenome.

Measurements of cord blood and samples from the placenta showed that increased choline, via the addition of methyl groups, altered epigenetic markers that govern cortisol-regulating genes. Higher choline lessened the expression of these genes, leading to 33% lower cortisol in the blood of babies whose moms consumed 930 mg per day.

The researchers said the findings raise the possibility that choline may be used therapeutically in cases where excess maternal stress from anxiety, depression or other prenatal conditions might make the fetal HPA axis more reactive and more likely to release greater-than-expected amounts of cortisol. They suggest pregnant women be instructed to consume a diet that includes choline rich foods,  such as eggs, lean meat, beans and cruciferous vegetables.