Maternal biomarkers for early prediction of the neural tube defects pregnancies

Abstract

Background: Neural tube defects (NTD) are one of the most common congenital birth defects. The reason for the NTD cause is still not completely known, but it is believed that some genetic and environmental factors might play a role in its etiology. Among the genetic factors the polymorphism in the folate gene pathway is crucial. Numerous studies have suggested the possible role of maternal higher plasma concentration of homocysteine and low concentration of folate and cobalamin in the development of NTD but some negative studies are also published. Aim: Aim of the present was to find out the exact relation between NTD and maternal biomarkers like folate, cobalamin and homocysteine by conducting a meta-analysis. Method: Different electronic databases were searched for the eligible studies. Standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to determine association between maternal markers as risk for NTD pregnancy. The p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant in all tests. All the statistical analyses were done in the Open Meta-Analyst program. Results: The homocysteine is significantly associated with the increased risk of NTD (SMD = 0.57; 95% CI: 0.35−0.80, p = <0.001; I2 = 93.01%), s-folate showed protective role in NTD (SMD = −0.48; 95% CI: −0.77 to −0.19, p = 0.001; I2 = 95.73%), similarly cobalamin is also having protective role (SMD = −0.28; 95% CI: −0.43 to −0.13, p = <0.001; I2 = 80.40%). Conclusion: In conclusion this study suggest that different maternal biomarkers may be used for the early prediction of the NTDs.

Identifying key m6A-methylated lncRNAs and genes associated with neural tube defects via integrative MeRIP and RNA sequencing analyses

“…Neural tube defects (NTDs) are common congenital abnormalities caused by the failure of the neural tube to close during embryogenesis ( Yadav et al, 2021 ). The prevalence of NTDs is estimated to be 18.6 per 10,000 live births ( Finnell et al, 2021 ).…”

Homocysteine Metabolism in Pregnancy and Developmental Impacts

“…Indeed, the early phase of pregnancy represents a period of high embryonic developmental vulnerability that is critically dependent on the adequate provision of interacting nutrients involved in one-carbon metabolism, as most clearly exemplified in the case of NTDs, a group of congenital malformations of the central nervous system that arise from a failure of neural tube closure during embryogenesis. Sensitivity of neural tube closure to one-carbon metabolism is signified by the lowering of NTD risk associated with higher maternal folate ( MRC Vitamin Study Research Group, 1991 ; Czeizel et al, 2011 ; De-Regil et al, 2015 ; Yadav et al, 2021 ), vitamin B 12 ( Ray et al, 2007 ; Gu et al, 2012 ; Molloy, 2018 ; Wahbeh and Manyama 2021 ; Yadav et al, 2021 ), vitamin B 6 ( Candito et al, 2008 ), choline ( Shaw et al, 2004 ; Shaw et al, 2009 ), betaine ( Shaw et al, 2004 ), and methionine ( Shaw et al, 1997 ; Shaw et al, 2004 ) status.…”