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REVIEW article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition, Psychology and Brain Health
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1463983

The role of prenatal choline and its impact on neurodevelopmental disorders

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, University of Chile, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), Chile
  • 2 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Extensive evidence demonstrates that prenatal nutrition is crucial for adequate fetal development. Specifically, maternal choline intake plays a significant role in gene expression, epigenetics, and cell membrane formation.Preclinical models have shown that maternal dietary intake improves the development of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. This review focuses on the role of prenatal choline intake and discusses its potential role in neurodevelopmental disorders especially since choline has emerged as a promising coadjutant to mitigate cognitive and developmental disorders. However, more evidence regarding timing, dosage, and molecular mechanisms is needed. In this review, we discuss the impact of prenatal choline availability, evidence from current models, and gaps to address in how choline may impact the symptomology and manifestation of Rett Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, and Down Syndrome. Our ultimate goal is to highlight the importance of choline for maternal health and its potential beneficial impact on neurodevelopmental disorders.

    Keywords: Choline, Rett Syndrome, MeCP2, fragile x, neurodevelopment, Down Syndrome

    Received: 12 Jul 2024; Accepted: 31 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mujica-Coopman, Paules and Trujillo-Gonzalez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Isis Trujillo-Gonzalez, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.