In plain words
One-carbon metabolism is a group of body chemistry pathways. They carry single carbon units from one molecule to another. , a B vitamin, plays a central role in these pathways. The pathways help make DNA building blocks and supply methyl groups that many body processes need. During pregnancy, cells divide fast, especially the cells that form the baby's brain and spinal cord. These pathways are busy at that time. A shortage of folate can affect them. Mothers often hear about folate and in prenatal care. This page describes the chemistry. It does not tell a mother how much folate to take.
The deeper version
Folate enters the cell and is reduced to tetrahydrofolate, which carries one-carbon units for thymidylate and purine synthesis, required for rapid neuroepithelial proliferation, and for remethylation of homocysteine to methionine, which regenerates S-adenosylmethionine, the universal methyl donor. (MTHFR) variants alter enzyme activity, though clinical significance for folate status is modest and debated. The Institute of Medicine's (1998) set the folate requirement for pregnancy, and the neural tube closure window is the basis for preconception folate guidance. Ducker and Rabinowitz (2017) review the pathway's role in health and disease.
Where it comes up
- Folate and folic acidPregnancy: Eating
- Eating before you conceiveBefore Pregnancy
- What to eat in pregnancy: the short versionPregnancy: Eating
- Trimester Zero: preparing your body before pregnancyBefore Pregnancy
- Choline: the nutrient nobody mentionsPregnancy: Eating
What mothers here say about one-carbon metabolism
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Sources
- Ducker GS, Rabinowitz JD — One-carbon metabolism in health and disease. Cell Metabolism 2017
- Institute of Medicine — Dietary Reference Intakes for Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, and Choline, 1998