High Folic Acid Intake during Pregnancy Lowers Body Weight and Reduces Femoral Area and Strength in Female Rat Offspring
Table 2
Measurements of femur morphology, bone mineral, and biomechanical strength properties from female offspring at 17 weeks after weaning1.
Variables
Treatment groups
value
RFol-RFol
HFol-RFol
RFol-HFol
HFol-HFol
Dam diet
Pup diet
Dam diet × pup diet
Whole femur
Length (mm)
Unadjusted
36.14 ± 0.17ab
35.88 ± 0.12ab
36.51 ± 0.21a
35.53 ± 0.35b
0.02
NS
NS
Adjusted*
36.03 ± 0.23
35.99 ± 0.20
36.43 ± 0.23
35.62 ± 0.21
0.08
NS
NS
AP width (mm)
Unadjusted
3.20 ± 0.04
3.08 ± 0.05
3.09 ± 0.05
3.11 ± 0.09
NS
NS
NS
Adjusted*
3.18 ± 0.06
3.11 ± 0.06
3.07 ± 0.06
3.13 ± 0.06
NS
NS
NS
ML width (mm)
Unadjusted
4.27 ± 0.05
4.10 ± 0.09
4.09 ± 0.09
4.04 ± 0.08
NS
NS
NS
Adjusted*
4.28 ± 0.08
4.11 ± 0.08
4.09 ± 0.08
4.04 ± 0.07
NS
NS
NS
Femoral head (mm)
Unadjusted
4.08 ± 0.03
3.96 ± 0.04
4.07 ± 0.03
3.97 ± 0.07
0.03
NS
NS
Adjusted*
4.06 ± 0.05
3.98 ± 0.05
4.06 ± 0.05
3.99 ± 0.05
NS
NS
NS
Femoral neck (mm)
Unadjusted
2.05 ± 0.04
1.97 ± 0.04
2.04 ± 0.03
1.93 ± 0.06
0.04
NS
NS
Adjusted*
2.03 ± 0.04
1.99 ± 0.04
2.02 ± 0.04
1.94 ± 0.04
NS
NS
NS
Knee joint (mm)
Unadjusted
6.69 ± 0.04
6.54 ± 0.06
6.66 ± 0.04
6.53 ± 0.07
0.01
NS
NS
Adjusted*
6.67 ± 0.05
6.56 ± 0.05
6.64 ± 0.05
6.54 ± 0.05
0.07
NS
NS
Weight (g)
Unadjusted
1.046 ± 0.026a
1.000 ± 0.031ab
1.038 ± 0.024ab
0.953 ± 0.037b
0.04
NS
NS
Adjusted*
1.035 ± 0.029
1.011 ± 0.030
1.029 ± 0.030
0.961 ± 0.028
NS
NS
NS
Bone area (cm2)
Unadjusted
2.045 ± 0.010a
1.958 ± 0.045ab
1.993 ± 0.021ab
1.882 ± 0.041b
0.002
0.06
NS
Adjusted**
2.025 ± 0.018a
1.933 ± 0.018b
1.944 ± 0.018b
1.950 ± 0.017b
0.03
0.08
0.01
BMC (g)
Unadjusted
0.487 ± 0.007
0.460 ± 0.008
0.463 ± 0.009
0.435 ± 0.017
0.08
NS
NS
Adjusted**
0.473 ± 0.010
0.453 ± 0.010
0.445 ± 0.010
0.460 ± 0.010
NS
NS
0.09
BMD (g/cm2)
Unadjusted
0.236 ± 0.004
0.229 ± 0.002
0.232 ± 0.003
0.230 ± 0.005
NS
NS
NS
Adjusted*
0.235 ± 0.004
0.233 ± 0.004
0.231 ± 0.004
0.233 ± 0.004
NS
NS
NS
Femur midpoint
Peak load (N)
Unadjusted
145.06 ± 3.62
132.63 ± 2.79
135.67 ± 3.23
137.15 ± 5.96
NS
NS
0.10
Adjusted**
142.53 ± 3.48
134.73 ± 3.68
130.42 ± 3.27
142.19 ± 3.45
NS
NS
0.01
Stiffness (N/mm)
Unadjusted
396.92 ± 14.88
354.50 ± 6.92
357.57 ± 5.85
372.23 ± 14.67
NS
NS
0.02
Adjusted**
390.43 ± 10.46a
359.88 ± 10.42ab
344.29 ± 10.31b
385.03 ± 9.79a
NS
NS
0.002
Data are means ± (SEM); -10/group. Data were analyzed by 2-way ANOVA (dam diet and pup diet as main factors) followed by post hoc Tukey’s test. Means with different superscripts in a row are significantly different, .
*Adjusted for body weight.
**Adjusted for body weight and femoral length.