Lower choline in pregnant black American women linked to higher levels of the stress hormone

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.November 16, 2020

Researchers from the Anschutz Medical Campus at the University of Colorado found that many pregnant black American women have low levels of choline, an essential nutrient that aids prenatal brain development. The stress caused by institutional racism can play a role.

The study, now available Bulletin on Schizophrenia, he also found that these low choline levels were associated with higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. A higher cortisol causes the mother to retain choline in the liver instead of giving it to the baby.

One possible cause of higher cortisol and lower choline levels in black American women is the burden of institutional racism and the chronic subconscious stress it causes. “

Robert Freedman, MD, professor of psychiatry at CU Anschutz Medical Campus and principal investigator of the study

Women with lower choline levels gave birth on average two weeks prematurely, putting babies at greater risk for attention deficit disorder and other childhood mental health problems.

The researchers looked at a sample of 183 pregnant women, with 25 self-identified black women.

Choline levels in black women were lower than those in white women from the same neighborhoods. While the black participants indicated no more stress, their hair cortisol levels were noticeably higher.

The researchers also looked at a group of pregnant black women in Uganda. The choline levels obtained by those 166 participants were significantly higher than the black American levels, indicating that high stress rather than ancestry contributes to low choline levels in black American women.

In a separate clinical study with 100 pregnant women, 50 women, of whom seven were black, received a phosphatidylcholine supplement to increase choline levels. Fifty received a placebo, eight of them were black.

Both groups received instructions on how to increase choline in their diets. Premature birth was prevented in the seven black women who received choline supplements, but not in the eight who received the placebo. By the age of four, their children had fewer attention and social behavior problems with others.

These two studies combined represent the largest group of black women studied for the effects of prenatal choline on their pregnancy outcome.

“We hope to get the word out, to all women and especially stressed pregnant black women, that taking supplemental choline, in addition to the prenatal vitamins they are already taking, can significantly improve outcomes for their children,” she said. said Freedman.