Figure 1. Periconceptional supplementation with a high iron diet but not folic acid prevents NTDs in the Fpn1^ffe mouse line.

A-A”. A. Normal neural tube closure in a 9.5 dpc Fpn1^ffe/+ embryo compared to A’ exencephaly in an Fpn1^ffe/ffe mutant from a dam fed the control diet. A” normal morphology and neural tube closure in an Fpn1^ffe/ffe mutant from a dam fed the high iron diet. Size bar = 1 mm. B. Frequency of NTDs in Fpn1^ffe/ffe mutant embryos from dams supplemented with control (yellow bar), high folic acid (10 ppm, orange bar), high iron (0.5% carbonyl iron, blue bar) or high folic acid and iron (purple bar) diets for 4 weeks before mating. Statistical significance was determined by the Fisher's Exact test and p-values: =0.0002 ***, ≤0.0001 **** or non significant (ns). The number of samples represented in each group is indicated.