Table 1.
Human studies with a focus on maternal choline intake (or status) and pregnancy and child health outcomes (in chronological order).
| Study | Design | Intervention/Choline Marker Measurement | Pregnancy and Child Health Outcomes | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaw et al. 2004 | Case-control | Maternal dietary choline intake during the 3 months before conception | Reduced neural tube defect (NTD) risk with higher maternal choline intakes (n = 424 NTD and 440 control) | [43] |
| Signore et al. 2008 | Prospective cohort | Maternal serum total and free choline throughout gestation and cord blood choline concentrations | No association between child intelligence quotient (IQ) scores at 5 years of age and maternal or cord blood choline (n = 404 maternal-child pairs) | [44] |
| Shaw et al. 2009 | Prospective case-control | Serum total choline concentrations during the gestational week 15–18 | Reduced NTD risk with higher serum choline concentrations (n = 80 NTD and 409 control) | [45] |
| Wu et al. 2012 | Prospective cohort | Maternal plasma free choline at gestational week 16 | Better cognitive scores in 18-month-old infants with higher maternal plasma free choline levels (n = 154 maternal-child pairs) | [46] |
| Villamor et al. 2012 | Prospective cohort | Maternal dietary choline intake in the 1st and 2nd trimester of pregnancy | No association between cognitive performance in 3-year-old children and maternal choline intake (n = 1210) | [47] |
| Jiang et al. 2012 a | Randomized clinical trial (RCT) | Controlled feeding of 930 versus 480 mg choline/day for 12 weeks during 3rd trimester of pregnancy | Higher placental CRH promoter methylation and lower cord blood cortisol concentrations in the 930 mg/d (n = 13) versus 480 mg/day (n = 13) choline intake group. | [38] |
| Cheatham et al. 2012 | RCT | Phosphatidylcholine (PC) supplement (750 mg choline/day) from 2nd trimester of pregnancy to 90 days postpartum | No effect on development or memory in 10 or 12-month-old infants (intervention group n = 49, placebo group n = 50) | [48] |
| Boeke et al. 2013 | Prospective cohort | Maternal dietary choline intake in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy | Better visual memory in 7-year-old children with top interquartile dietary choline intake during pregnancy (n = 895) | [49] |
| Jiang et al. 2013 a | RCT | Controlled feeding of 930 versus 480 mg choline/day for 12 weeks during 3rd trimester of pregnancy | Lower placental sFlt1 mRNA expression and maternal serum sFLT1 levels in the 930 mg/day (n = 13) versus 480 mg/d (n = 13) choline intake group | [50] |
| Ross et al. 2013 b | RCT | PC supplement (900 mg choline/day) from 2nd trimester of pregnancy until delivery; 100mg/day of PC to infants until 3 months of age | Greater attention development in 5-week-old infants in the intervention group (n = 36) versus control (n = 40) | [51] |
| Ross et al. 2016 b | RCT | PC supplement (900 mg choline/day) from 2nd trimester of pregnancy until delivery; 100mg/day of PC to infants until 3 months of age | Reduced attentional problems and social withdrawal in children at 40 months of age in the intervention group (n = 23) versus control (n = 26) | [52] |
| Caudill et al. 2018 a | RCT | Controlled feeding of 930 versus 480 mg choline/day for 12 weeks during 3rd trimester of pregnancy | Faster information processing speed in infants during 4–13 months in the 930 (n = 12) versus 480 mg/day group (n = 12) | [53] |
| Jacobson et al. 2018 | RCT | 2 g choline/day or placebo from mid-pregnancy until delivery among heavy alcohol drinkers | Better eyeblink conditioning in infants at 6.5 months, higher novelty preference scores at 12 months, and more catch-up growth at both time points in the choline treated group (n = 32) versus control (n = 31) | [54] |
| Freedman et al. 2018 | Prospective cohort | Serum-free choline and betaine concentrations at week 16 of gestation | Improved development of cerebral inhibition in newborns and behavioral regulation in 1-year-old infants born to infected mothers (n = 66) with higher gestational serum choline concentrations. | [55] |
| Bahnfleth et al. 2019 a | RCT | Controlled feeding of 930 versus 480 mg choline/day for 12 weeks during 3rd trimester of pregnancy | Better performance on a task of color-location memory at age 7 years in the 930 mg choline/day (n = 11) versus 480 choline mg/day (n = 9) choline intake group. | [56] |
a These articles are based on the same controlled feeding study; b These articles are based on the same RCT.