Effect of synthetic folic acid surplus on neurological symptoms in offspring

BACKGROUND: Folic acid is crucial for vital activities in both macro- and microorganisms. It is necessary for methylation, nucleotide synthesis, methionine formation, and reduction of the toxic effects of homocysteine. The addition of synthetic folic acid to the diet of pregnant women and those at pre-pregnancy preparation significantly reduced the risks of fetal neural tube defects, heart defects, and defects in other organs and systems. Folic acid can also help improve fertility potential. However, adverse effects of folic acid proficite on the health of older adults (asymptomatic B12-deficient status) and offspring of mothers taking high doses prescribed by medical specialists were reported, such as risks of infectious, inflammatory, and allergic diseases of the upper respiratory tract in children, eczema, psychomotor developmental disorders, and insulin resistance. In 1980, the direct excitatory effect of folic acid on synaptic transmission in the central nervous system was confirmed. This is due to the molecular structure because it contains L-glutamate.

AIM: To prove the correlation among probable neuropathologies, including a reduced threshold of seizures, a high risk of epilepsy in a model of offspring of Wistar rats with high-dose folate throughout gestation, and pre-pregnancy preparation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Experiments on Wistar rats (n = 45) were conducted to determine the occurrence of the first convulsive event by introducing 20% caffeine solution at the rate of 100 mg/kg of weight intraperitoneally.

RESULTS: In the control group, the average clonus time was 1779.6 s; in the experimental group with a 1 mg/kg folic acid per diet dosage, it was 797.3 s; and in the second group with a 5 mg/kg folic acid per diet, it was 439.7 s (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION: The difference in the convulsive threshold may be due to changes in synaptic density following excess levels of synthetic folic acid during neural tube formation and subsequently during the differentiation of nervous tissue in the central nervous system (particularly, in the third trimester with a massive appearance of glutamatergic receptors), which can affect neurogenesis and neural network formation.