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Maternal plasma and erythrocyte folate levels and risk of oral clefts in Utah
Author(s) -
Munger Ronald G.,
Tamura Tsunenobu,
Johnson Kelly,
Feldkamp Marcia,
Phister Roxane,
Botto Lorenzo,
Carey John
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a121-b
Subject(s) - quartile , medicine , confidence interval , pregnancy , population , obstetrics , case control study , folic acid , environmental health , biology , genetics
Maternal folate nutrition has been inconsistently associated with risk of oral clefts (OCs), one of the most common birth defects, and few studies have evaluated folate levels. A population‐based, case‐control study was conducted in Utah to evaluate the association between maternal plasma (PF) and erythrocyte (EF) folate levels and risk of OCs. All procedures were approved by institutional review boards. Case‐mothers were ascertained by the Utah Birth Defects Network. Control‐mothers were selected from Utah birth certificates and matched to cases by month of birth. Mothers were interviewed by telephone then blood samples were collected one year or more after the end of the last pregnancy (mean interval 4.1 years), and assayed for PF and EF by the L. casei microbiological method. OC subgroups evaluated included isolated cleft lip, with or without cleft palate (CLP‐I), isolated cleft palate (CP‐I), CLP with multiple birth defects (CLP‐M), and CP‐M. In the highest vs. lowest PF quartile, risk of all CLP was 55% less (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.25–0.80; p‐trend across quartiles = 0.006) and risk of all CP was 58% less (95% CI, 0.20–0.89; p‐trend = 0.03). Similar results were found for EF and results across OC subgroups were similar. Better maternal folate status was significantly associated with a reduced risk of oral clefts in Utah. Supported by NIH 1RO1‐HD39061.