The long-term impact of folic acid in pregnancy on offspring DNA methylation: follow-up of the Aberdeen Folic Acid Supplementation Trial (AFAST)

Abstract

The results of this study suggest that maternal folic-acid supplement use is associated with changes in the DNA methylation of the offspring that persist for many years after exposure in utero. These methylation changes are located in genes implicated in embryonic development, immune response and cellular proliferation. Further work to investigate whether these epigenetic changes translate into detectable phenotypic differences is required.