Folic acid supplementation in a mouse model of diabetes in pregnancy alters insulin sensitivity in female mice and beta cell mass in offspring.

Epidemiological studies have reported discrepant findings on the relationship between folic acid intake during pregnancy and risk for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). To begin to understand how folic acid impacts metabolic health during pregnancy, we determined the effects of excess folic acid supplementation (5× recommendation) on maternal and fetal offspring metabolic health. Using a mouse (female C57BL/6J) model of diet-induced diabetes in pregnancy (western diet) and control mice, we show that folic acid supplementation improved insulin sensitivity in the female mice fed the western diet and worsened insulin sensitivity in control mice.

A multicenter analytical performance evaluation of a multiplexed immunoarray for the simultaneous measurement of biomarkers of micronutrient deficiency, inflammation and malarial antigenemia.

A lack of comparative data across laboratories is often a barrier to the uptake and adoption of new technologies. Furthermore, data generated by different immunoassay methods may be incomparable due to a lack of harmonization. In this multicenter study, we describe validation experiments conducted in a single lab and cross-lab comparisons of assay results to assess the performance characteristics of the Q-plex™ 7-plex Human Micronutrient Array (7-plex), an immunoassay that simultaneously quantifies seven biomarkers associated with micronutrient (MN) deficiencies, inflammation and malarial antigenemia using plasma or serum; alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, C-reactive protein, ferritin, histidine-rich protein 2, retinol binding protein 4, soluble transferrin receptor, and thyroglobulin.

Sex-specific effects of neonatal oral sucrose treatment on growth and liver choline and glucocorticoid metabolism in adulthood.

Hospitalized preterm infants experience painful medical procedures. Oral sucrose is the nonpharmacological standard of care for minor procedural pain relief. Infants are treated with numerous doses of sucrose, raising concerns about potential long-term effects.