Maternal folic acid supplementation prevents autistic behaviors in a rat model induced by prenatal exposure to valproic acid

Food Funct. 2021 May 21;12(10):4544-4555. doi: 10.1039/d0fo02926b. Epub 2021 Apr 27.

Abstract

Maternal vitamin supplementation has been demonstrated to reduce the risks of a number of neurodevelopmental diseases in children. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopment defects with high prevalence but without satisfactory therapy. The present work detected the effects of pregnancy supplementation with folic acid (FA) at different doses on rat models of ASD induced by prenatal exposure to valproic acid (VPA), an anti-epileptic increasing the risk of ASD when administered during pregnancy. The results show that maternal FA supplementation at a high dose (4 mg kg-1) prevented the delay in growth and development, and the deficits in social communicative behaviors and repetitive behaviors, possibly by restoring the increased dendritic spine density and rectifying the over-expression of synaptic proteins associated with excitatory neurons and the lower expression with inhibitory ones. The results provided experimental evidence suggesting a possible role of maternal FA supplementation in preventing ASD.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder / prevention & control*
  • Autistic Disorder / chemically induced
  • Behavior, Animal
  • Dietary Supplements*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Female
  • Folic Acid / administration & dosage*
  • Male
  • Pregnancy
  • Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / chemically induced
  • Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / prevention & control*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Social Behavior
  • Valproic Acid / adverse effects*

Substances

  • Valproic Acid
  • Folic Acid