Effect of Excessive and Chronic Folic Acid Administration before and during Pregnancy on Spatial and Avoidance Memory in Rat Offspring

Maternal folate supplementation during pregnancy is associated with reduced risk of several fetal neurodevelopmental disorders. However, it is not well known that excess folate intake from diet and supplements can impair neurodevelopment and behavior in offspring. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of chronic and high doses of folic acid before and during pregnancy in female rats on learning and spatial and avoidance memory in male and female offspring.

24 female Wistar rats received doses of 0.5, 1, and 2 mg folic acid by intraperitoneal injection two weeks before and during pregnancy. The control group received normal saline. Male and female offspring were divided into 8 groups. Learning behavior and spatial memory were measured by Morris blue maze test, avoidance memory by shuttle box test. The results showed that taking a dose of 2 mg folic acid before and during pregnancy causes spatial learning deficits in male offspring.

While spatial memory is unchanged compared to the control. This dose of folic acid also causes a disturbance in avoidance memory in both male and female offspring.

Our results suggest that high doses of folic acid supplements during early life (fetal) have the potential to impair neurological functions such as memory. Although the severity of this disorder can depend on the gender of the child.