Folic Acid Supplement Intake in Early Pregnancy Increases Risk of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: Evidence From a Prospective Cohort Study
Abstract
Folic acid (FA) is well known for its preventive effect on neural tube defects, and recommendations for FA supplement before and during pregnancy have been well established all over the world. Since increased consumption of FA has been prevalent, concerns about its negative consequences have been raised. Diverse adverse effects of FA have been identified, ranging from an increased risk of oral cleft malformations, asthma/respiratory tract infections, and small-for-gestational-age infants to the more serious effect of a potential increased risk of cancers. Previous studies have suggested that a high maternal folate concentration is associated with an increased risk of insulin resistance in children and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) (1). In addition, animal experiments have reported that maternal high-FA supplement promotes glucose intolerance and insulin resistance in male mouse offspring fed a high-fat diet (2). However, …
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Women who receive daily folate supplementation in the first trimester may have a paradoxical increased risk of GDM.
“Some studies have suggested that women who receive daily folate supplementation in the first trimester may have a paradoxical increased risk of GDM [141,142].”
From Medical Nutrition Therapy for Women with Gestational Diabetes: Current Practice and Future Perspectives (2025) · cites this paper as [142]
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Chen, X., Zhang, Y., Chen, H., Jiang, Y., Wang, Y., Wang, D., Li, M., Dou, Y., Sun, X., Huang, G., et al. (2021) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc20-1607 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Saravanan, P., Sukumar, N., Adaikalakoteswari, A., Goljan, I., Venkataraman, H., Gopinath, A., Bagias, C., Yajnik, C. S., Stallard, N., Ghebremichael-Weldeselassie, Y., et al. (2021) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s00125-021-05510-7 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Cheong, L., Law, L. S.-C., Tan, L. Y. L., Amal, A. A.-A., Khoo, C. M., & Eng, P. C. (2025) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu17071210 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
- Authors
- Zhu, B., Ge, X., Huang, K., Mao, L., Yan, S., Xu, Y., Huang, S., Hao, J., Zhu, P., Niu, Y., Tong, S., & Tao, F.
- Affiliations
- Anhui Medical University (CN)
- Ma’anshan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Ma’anshan, China
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Tao, Fangbiao
- ORCID
- Venue
- Diabetes Care
- Publisher
- American Diabetes Association
- Published
- 2016-01-28
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- e36-e37
- ISSN
- 0149-5992 (ISSN-L)
- 1935-5548
- OpenAlex
- W2257240297
- Cited by
- 83
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4
- FWCI
- 6.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Diabetes Care (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Folate and B Vitamins Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Gestational Diabetes Research and Management
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
- Keywords
- folic acid supplementation, gestational diabetes mellitus, early pregnancy, maternal folate intake, insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, maternal nutrition
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