Effect of Parental Peri-conceptional Vitamin B12 Supplementation on Infant Neurocognitive Development in Offspring

Maternal nutrition is an important factor which determines fetal growth and development. Micronutrients vitamin B12 and folic acid are essential determinants of one carbon metabolism and play an important role in DNA synthesis, methylation and epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Diabetes unit of KEMHRC, Pune has been conducting the Pune Rural Intervention in Young Adolescents since last 3 years. Subjects of the PMNS cohort have been randomized as part of a controlled trial of nutritional intervention with vitamin B12 vs multiple micronutrient and milk protein vs placebo. This study aims to understand the intergenerational effects of vitamin B12 supplementation. 74 infants have been born in this trial since 2013. This study would assess neurocognitive development of offspring born to mothers who are part of the nutritional intervention trial; on the Bayley scales of infant and toddler development - III. The study aims to test the hypothesis that infants born to mothers who received vitamin B12 would have favorable infant neurocognitive development scores as compared to placebo. And this effect would be enhanced in the group whose mothers received MMN with milk protein.