Speakers - 2026

Title: The intake of folic acid, vitamin D, and LC-PUFA versus the risk of congenital heart defects in the fetus – a part of case-control study

Abstract

Introduction: The relationship between maternal diet, including supplementation with folic acid, vitamin D, and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA), and the occurrence of CHD in the fetus is not sufficiently studied and/or the available data are inconsistent. The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between maternal intake of folic acid, vitamin D, and LC-PUFA (through diet and supplementation, taking into account the timing and dose) and the risk of CHD in the fetus. 

Methods: A case–control study was conducted. The study group included pregnant women with fetuses from singleton pregnancies with prenatally diagnosed heart defects in the fetus (n = 79) and pregnant women whose course of pregnancy was normal with no heart defects or other developmental anomalies diagnosed in the fetus (n = 121). The patients were diagnosed at a reference center in Poland. The women completed a lifestyle questionnaire and FFQ (Food Frequency Questionnaire) and precisely described their use of dietary supplements. A univariate logistic regression model was used to assess the relationship between the studied nutrients and selected risk factors and CHD. 

Results: Lack of supplementation increases the risk of heart defects in children by more than four times compared to supplementation before pregnancy (OR = 4.19; p = 0.0117), whereas supplementation beyond the eighth week of gestation increases the risk almost threefold (OR = 2.90; p = 0.0474). In the group of females without CHD in the fetus, the mean values of vitamin D intake, including supplementation, and dietary LC-PUFA + DHA from supplementation, were higher than in women with CHD in the fetus (41.3 ± 24.7 vs. 34.7 ± 27.8 µg; p = 0.02 and 831.0 ± 280.1 vs. 767.7 ± 287.6 mg; p = 0.008, for vitamin D and LC-PUFA + DHA respectively). The presence of congenital defects in the family is also an important factor.

Conclusions: A history of congenital heart defects or other defects, lack of periconceptional folic acid supplementation, and lack of dietary supplementation before pregnancy were associated with congenital heart defects in the fetus. It seems that increased maternal intake of vitamin D and LC-PUFA, including DHA, through supplementation, may protect fetus against CHD, but the relationship between the occurrence of CHD and diet in this area need further studies. Place of residence, parents’ education, lifestyle habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption, nutritional status before pregnancy, and mother’s diseases did not show a significant relationship with congenital heart defects in the children. There is an urgent need to develop preventive strategies and conduct extensive public education, particularly aimed at women of reproductive age.