Maternal folic acid mild over consumption in mice leads to sex-specific transcriptional alterations in E17.5 embryonic cerebrum

Food fortification of folic acid (FA) and increased use of vitamin supplements have raised concerns over high folate intake periconceptionally. We reported that diet containing 5-fold higher FA than recommended for mice (5xFASD) during pregnancy, resulted in neurobehavioral abnormalities (hyperactivity and short-term memory impairment) in newborns. Our goal was to determine the origins of these changes and the underlying mechanisms by examing potential transcription changes in E17.5 embryonic cerebrum. We used microarrays to compare the E17.5 cerebral gene expression changes by 5xFASD and indentified different transcription profiles due to diet or sex. At weaning, wild-type C57BL/6 female mice were placed on control diet (CD) or 5xFASD for a month before mating, and were maintained on the same diets until embryonic day 17.5 (E17.5). Cerebrums of both sexes from both diets were used for RNA extraction and were performed gene expression analysis by microarray using Affymetrix Clariom S array_Mouse Chip.