Am J Clin Nutr. 2022 May 16:nqac147. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac147. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Dietary methyl donors (e.g., choline) support the activity of the phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT) pathway, which generates phosphatidylcholine (PC) molecules enriched in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) that are exported from the liver and made available to extrahepatic tissues.
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effect of prenatal choline supplementation on biomarkers of DHA status among pregnant participants consuming supplemental DHA.
DESIGN: Pregnant participants (N=30) were randomized to supplemental choline intakes of 550 mg/d (500 mg/d d0-choline + 50 mg/d deuterium labeled-choline [d9-choline]; intervention) or 25 mg/d (25 mg/d d9-choline; control) from gestational week (GW) 12-16 until delivery. All participants received a daily 200-mg DHA supplement and consumed self-selected diets. Fasting blood samples were obtained at baseline, GW 20-24, and GW 28-32; maternal/cord blood was obtained at Delivery. Mixed effects linear models were used to assess the impact of prenatal choline supplementation on maternal and newborn DHA status.
RESULTS: Choline supplementation (550 vs 25 mg/d) did not achieve a statistically significant intervention-x-time interaction for RBC PC-DHA (P=0.11); a significant interaction was observed for plasma PC-DHA and RBC total DHA, with choline supplementation yielding higher levels (+32-38% and +8-11%, respectively) at GW28-32 (P<0.05) and Delivery (P<0.005). A main effect of choline supplementation on plasma total DHA was also observed (P=0.018); its interaction with time was not significant (P=0.068). Compared with controls, the intervention group exhibited higher (P=0.007); main effect) plasma enrichment of d3-PC (d3-PC/total PC). Moreover, the ratio of d3-PC:d9-PC was higher (+50-67%, P<0.001) in the choline intervention arm (vs control) at GW 20-24, GW 28-32 and Delivery.
CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal choline supplementation improves hepatic DHA export and biomarkers of DHA status by bolstering methyl group supply for PEMT activity among pregnant participants consuming supplemental DHA Clinical Trial Registry: Synergy BetweenCholine and DHA; NCT03194659 (www.clinicaltrials.gov).
PMID:35575618 | DOI:10.1093/ajcn/nqac147
