Table 5 Summary of the studies examining associations of maternal vitamin B12 status with offspring cognitive function
Author, Year, Sample size, Age, Country, Study design | Nutrient | Cognitive function | Results after adjustment for confounders | QS and RB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
23WU BTF; 2012  N = 154  Age 18 Months  Canada  Prospective | Plasma vitamin B12 and holotranscobalamin concentrations assessed at 16 and 36 weeks gestation 7.8 % low B12 (<148 pmol/l) | Bayley Scales of Infant Development Receptive language, expressive language, cognitive skills, fine motor and gross motor | No association of B12 and holotranscobalamin with cognitive function Confounders adjusted for: The child’s sex, BF, ethnicity, MA, MIQ, maternal fatty acid level | 13 Medium |
25Bhate V; 2008  N = 108  Age 9 years  India  Prospective community based | Plasma Vitamin B12 concentrations assessed at 28 weeks gestation B12 status 2 groups Lowest <77 pmol/L Highest >224 pmol/L | Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices-Intelligence Visual recognition Colour Trial Test-sustained attention and executive function Digit-span test-short-term or working memory | Children in group 1 performed slowly in sustained attention (182 seconds Vs 159) and short-term memory (2.6 digits Vs 2.9) No association with other tests Confounders adjusted for: The child’s sex, age, education, weight and head circumference, B12 level, SES, education of the head of the family | 14 Medium |
26Veena SR; 2010  N = 536  Age 9-10 years  India  Prospective birth cohort | Plasma vitamin-B12 concentrations assessed at 30 ± 2 weeks gestation Low B12-(B12 < 150 pmol/L)-42 % | Kauffman Assessment Battery for Children-II-Learning, long-term retrieval, short-term memory and reasoning Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III-attention and concentration Koh’s block design-visuo-spatial ability Verbal fluency | No association between B12 concentrations and cognitive function No difference in mean score between children of mothers with low and normal B12 status Confounders adjusted for: The child’s sex, GA, weight and head circumference at birth, parity, MA, maternal BMI, ME, PE, SES, religion, rural/urban residence, the child’s current age, education, head circumference, BMI and B12 concentrations | 16 Medium |
28Del Rio Garcia; 2009  N = 253  Age Infancy (1- 12 months)  Mexico  Prospective birth cohort | Daily dietary intake of vitamin B12 (first trimester FFQ) Deficient daily dietary intake (B 12 < 2.0 μg/day) – 21.3 % | Bayley Scales of Infant Development -II (Mental Development Index(MDI) and Psychomotor Development Index (PDI)) | B12 intake deficiency-↓mental development (β = -1.6 points) Confounders adjusted for: BWT, BF, current age, energy intake at age 6 months, maternal BMI, pregnancy hypertension, ME, HE and MTHFR 1298A > C genotype | 16 Medium |
29Villamor E; 2012  N = 1210  Age 3 years  USA  Prospective pre-birth cohort | Average daily intake of vitamin B12 - 1st and 2nd trimester (FFQ + Supplements) Peri-conceptional B12 intake from supplements (LMP - 4Wks gestation) | Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Receptive Language Wide Range Assessment of Visual Motor Abilities-visual-motor; visual-spatial and fine motor | ↑ B12 intake (2.6 μg/day) during 2nd trimester (not 1st trimester) -↓ (0.4 points) receptive language No association of peri-conceptional B12 intake with cognitive function Confounders adjusted for: MA, parity, ethnicity, MS, pre-pregnancy BMI, ME, PE, MIQ, energy, fish and iron intake, income, the child’s sex and English as primary language | 15 Medium |
30Boeke C; 2013  N = 895  Age 7 years  USA  Prospective pre-birth cohort | Average daily intake of B12 at 1st and 2nd trimester (FFQ + Supplements) | Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Receptive Language Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning-II edition, Design and Picture Memory subtests: visuo-spatial memory Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test-II edition Verbal and non-verbal intelligence | No association of B12 intake with cognitive function Confounders adjusted for: MA, parity, ethnicity, MS, ME, PE, MIQ, HE, intake of energy, fish and other methyl donors, the child’s sex and current age | 16 Medium |
37Bonilla C; 2012  N = 6259  Age 8 years  UK  Population based prospective birth cohort | Daily dietary vitamin B12 intake. (FFQ; 3rd trimester-32 weeks) | Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III- Full-scale IQ | No association between maternal B12 intake and child’s IQ. Confounders adjusted for: The child’s sex, GA, BWT, BF, current age, MA, parity, ME, social class, MS, alcohol, maternal energy intake and infections in pregnancy, folate supplementation | 14 Medium |