Maternal folic acid over consumption in mice leads to sex-specific transcriptional alterations in cerebral cortex in offspring

Recent concerns have been raised regarding high folate intake during pregnancy and lactation, particularly following food fortification and increased vitamin supplement use. Epidemiologic studies have shown that high folic acid (FA) intake can negatively impact motor and neurocognitive development in offspring. We used microarray to investigate the impact of a supplemented diet containing 5-fold higher FA than recommended (5xFASD) on cerebral transcription profile in both male and female postnatal day (P) 30 pups. We also studied gene expression changes due to sex. At weaning, wild-type C57BL/6 female mice were placed for a month on a control diet (CD) or 5x FASD, and then mated to study offspring. Diets were maintained throughout pregnancy and lactation until P30. We conducted several behavioral tests on pups before sacrificing them at P30. Cerebral cortices were collected to conduct gene expression analysis by microarray using Affymetrix Clariom S array_Mouse Chip.