Maternal diet quality during pregnancy is associated with neonatal brain white matter development

Authors: NA, XIAOXU - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS); GLASIER, CHARLES - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS); ANDRES, ALINE - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC); OU, XIAWEI - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)

Submitted to: Nutrients
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/11/2023
Publication Date: 12/15/2024
Citation: Na, X., Glasier, C.M., Andres, A., Ou, X. 2024. Maternal diet quality during pregnancy is associated with neonatal brain white matter development. Nutrients. 15(24):5114. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15245114.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15245114

Interpretive Summary: What a woman eat during pregnancy is important for the growth and development of her baby. Healthy diet during pregnancy can promote baby's brain development, while unhealthy diet can have a negatively impact. In this study, we enrolled pregnant women from early pregnancy, documented their food intake patterns throughout pregnancy, and calculated the healthy eating index (HEI, which is a reflection of how well their diet aligns with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans). When their babies are born, we performed a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan on their babies, and measured white matter (brain tissue essential for neural signal transfer) development in the babies' brain. We found that for sodium intake, one component of the mother's HEI, there is a significant relationship with brain white matter measurements in babies. Our results showed that less sodium intake at the first trimester was associated with better WM microstructural development in the newborn babies. Our study provides novel evidence that sodium intake during early pregnancy may influence offspring brain development.

Technical Abstract: Maternal diet and nutrient intake is important for fetal growth and development. In this study, we aim to evaluate whether there are associations between maternal diet quality and offspring brain white matter development. Healthy pregnant women’s (N=44) nutrition intake was as-sessed by Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) during the first, second and third trimester re-spectively. Correlations between MRI diffusion tensor imaging-measured fractional anisotropy (FA) of neonatal brain and HEI-2015 scores were evaluated using voxel-wise analysis with ap-propriate multiple comparisons correction and post-hoc analysis based on regions of interest. Significant correlations were found between sodium scores at the first trimester of pregnancy and mean neonatal FA values in parietal white matter (R = 0.39, P = 0.01), anterior corona radiata (R = 0.43, P = 0.006), posterior limb of internal capsule (R = 0.53, P < 0.001), external capsule (R = 0.44, P = 0.004), and temporal white matter (R = 0.50, P = 0.001) of left hemisphere. No other cor-relations were identified. In conclusion, the relationships between maternal sodium intake and neonatal white matter microstructural development indicate sodium intake better aligned with the Dietary Guidelines of Americans during early pregnancy are associated with greater white matter development in the offspring brain.