Maternal Vitamin B12 Deficiency May Increase Risk of Type-2 Diabetes in Children

Highlights

Vitamin B12 is naturally found in animal products like fish, meat, poultry, eggs and milk.
Previous research states that maternal deficiency of vitamin B12 caused low birth weight and high cholesterol levels in babies .
Higher levels of leptin found in babies born to mothers with vitamin B12 deficiency.
Leptin is a biomarker for body fat and maternal B12 deficiency indirectly affects fat metabolism and contribute to risk type 2 diabetes.

B12 deficiency during pregnancy may predispose children to metabolic problems such as type-2 diabetes.

These findings could lead to a review of current vitamin B12 requirements for pregnant women, whether through an improved diet or supplements.

Vitamin B12 - An Essential Vitamin
If you feel that the persistent or regular incidences of depression have got nothing to do with what you eat, think again. The reason behind low spirits can be due to insufficient levels vitamin B12.

‘A well-balanced diet including all essential nutrients is necessary during pregnancy for optimal fetal health.’

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Vitamin B12 is naturally found in animal products, including fish, meat, poultry, eggs and milk, meaning deficiency is more likely in those following a vegan diet.

Previous studies have shown that mothers with low B12 levels had a higher BMI and were more likely to give birth to babies with low birth weight as well as high cholesterol levels.

These children also had higher insulin resistance in childhood - a risk factor for type-2 diabetes.

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Though vitamin B12 is usually obtained from animal sources, vegetarians also have several options to obtain this vitamin in the diet.

In this study, a team of researchers at the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School hypothesized that the changes associated with B12 deficiency may be the result of abnormal levels of leptin - the hormone that tells us we are full after eating.

Leptin is produced by our body's fat cells and its levels rise in response to eating food.

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The need for further research is to determine if the use of methyl B12 and antioxidants like glutathione as supplements can help prevent oxidative stress.

While lean diets are associated with normal levels of leptin, obesity causes levels to rise and remain consistently higher than normal.

This can eventually lead to leptin resistance, continued overeating, and an increased risk of insulin resistance, which leads to type-2 diabetes.

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Researchers have developed a novel method to test for vitamin B12 deficiency that is sensitive enough to work on anyone, including newborn babies and large swaths of the general population.

Scientists and doctors therefore see leptin as providing an effective 'marker' for body fat.

The researchers found that babies born to mothers with B12 deficiency had higher than normal leptin levels.

This suggests that maternal B12 deficiency can adversely program the leptin gene, changing the levels at which the hormone is produced while the fetus grows.

"The nutritional environment provided by the mother can permanently program the baby's health," said Dr Ponusammy Saravanan, senior author of the study.

"We know that children born to under or over nourished mothers are at an increased risk of health problems such as type-2 diabetes, and we also see that maternal B12 deficiency may affect fat metabolism and contribute to this risk. This is why we decided to investigate leptin, the fat cell hormone."the doctor adds.

The next steps in the study will be to determine the details of how and why the leptin increase is seen in babies born to mothers with low B12.

"The leptin can increase for two reasons," said Dr Adaikala Antonysunil, who also worked on the study.

Either low B12 drives fat accumulation in the fetus, and this leads to increased leptin, or the low B12 actually causes chemical changes in the placental genes that produce leptin, making more of the hormone.

“As B12 is involved in methylation reactions in the body which can affect whether genes are turned on and off, we suspect it may be the latter.” Dr Antonysunil adds.

The next steps in the study will be to determine the details of how and why the leptin increase is seen in babies born to mothers with low B12.

The research was presented at the Society for Endocrinology's annual Conference in Brighton.

Source-Medindia