Diets, lead during pregnancy

Cynomolgus monkey, Macaca iris Intramuscular injection of 1.0 mg Pb/kg BW daily during pregnancy or lactation 1.5 mg Pb/L in drinking water as lead acetate, for 9 months (equivalent to 0.5 mg Pb/kg BW daily), or 6 mg/L (2 mg/kg BW), or 15 mg/L (5 mg/kg B N) Intramuscular injection of 5 mg Pb+ /kg BW daily during pregnancy or lactation Cynomolgus monkey, Macaca fascicularis Dosed orally from birth to age 200 days with 100 pg lead (as Pb acetate)/kg BW, 5 times weekly, milk substitute diet... 

Folate (pteroylglutamic acid) is essential for the synthesis and methylation of DNA during fetal and early postnatal development (Nunn et al., 1986). Folate deficiency may result from poor diet, malabsorption, from treatment with anticonvulsant drugs such as phenytoin or primidone, as well as from antifolate drugs such as methotrexate. Folate deficiency during pregnancy leads to an increased prevalence of fetal malformations such as spina bifida and related neural tube defects. Findings... 

Excessive intakes of vitamin A intake leads to hypervitaminosis A that has been associated with birth defects, including malformations of the eye, skull, lungs, and heart [21]. High intakes are possible in the diet for MPKU if a medical food containing vitamin A is taken along with a prenatal supplement or fish oil. The upper safe limit for vitamin A intake during pregnancy is 2,800-3,000 pg/day, or approximately equal to 10,000 lU (1 pg retinol... 

The human fetus absorbs ascorbic acid from the placenta (124) and restrictions of women s diet during pregnancy lead occasionally to abortion but not to deprivation of the fetus (126). The fetus seems to draw the vitamin C from the mother as long as appreciable amounts of ascorbic acid are present in the maternal plasma (126). Several studies have shown that the vitamin C content of the blood plasma of the fetus is higher than that of the mother (126, 127, 128, 129). The fetus seems to act parasitically on the mother with respect to vitamin C and vitamin C deficiency is not rare in pregnancy and puerperium (126, 130, 131). In spite of its parasitical action the fetus does not always obtain the required amounts of vitamin C from the mother and congenital scurvy occurs in man (132). 

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