{"title":"A Global Update on the Status of Prevention of Folic Acid-Preventable Spina Bifida and Anencephaly in Year 2024.","authors":"Vijaya Kancherla, Kaustubh Wagh, Helena Pachón","doi":"10.1002/bdr2.70065","DOIUrl":"10.1002/bdr2.70065","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Spina bifida and anencephaly are major birth defects, and the majority of them can be prevented through maternal intake of folic acid (vitamin B9) during early pregnancy. We estimated the proportion of folic acid-preventable spina bifida and anencephaly (FAP SBA) prevented globally through mandatory folic acid fortification policy in the year 2024 for cereal grains (i.e., wheat flour, maize flour, and rice).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We used country-specific fortification data from the Food Fortification Initiative for year 2024. Seventy countries had mandatory cereal grain fortification adding folic acid, and of them, 69 had complete data for analysis. Our prevention model assumed > 150 mcg/day of folic acid protects against FAP SBA, and post-fortification prevalence was assumed to reach the prevention target of 0.5 cases per 1000 births.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We estimated 63,600 cases of FAP SBA were prevented in the year 2024 in the 69 countries with mandatory fortification of cereal grains with folic acid worldwide. The prevention percent was 24%, indicating only a quarter of all preventable FAP SBA was prevented globally. About 200,000 preventable FAP SBA cases occurred in over 100 countries without fortification policies.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The 76th World Health Assembly resolution (76.19) passed in 2023 urges countries to implement folic acid fortification of staple foods to prevent FAP SBA. However, a large global disparity in FAP SBA prevention persists in 2024 despite proven fortification effectiveness. Fortification can swiftly and cost-effectively help countries achieve health equity by preventing disability and mortality associated with FAP SBA.</p>","PeriodicalId":9121,"journal":{"name":"Birth Defects Research","volume":"118 5","pages":"e70065"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148041086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Potential Effects of Prepubertal Exposure to Perfluorooctane Sulfonic Acid on the First Wave of Folliculogenesis in Young CD-1 Mice.","authors":"Bounleut Phanavanh, Jalina Moore, Amy Inselman, Xiaoqing Li, Kyung Sung, Pei-Hsuan Hung, Li You, Noriko Nakamura","doi":"10.1002/bdr2.70052","DOIUrl":"10.1002/bdr2.70052","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) belongs to a group of synthetic chemicals referred to as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that are known to degrade slowly. Exposure to PFOS has been reported to cause birth defects and disrupt female sex hormone levels in mice. However, to date, the direct effects of PFOS exposure on folliculogenesis in young animals have not been evaluated. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the potential effects of in utero and prepubertal exposure to PFOS on follicle development in juvenile, female mouse pups.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>ICR dams and young, female mouse pups were dosed with 0.1 mg/kg PFOS or saline (vehicle) via gavage beginning on gestation day (GD) 6 (plug positive = GD 0) through GD 17 (n = 11-17 per group) [in utero exposure] or postnatal day (PND) 7 (PND 0 = day of birth) through PND 21 (n = 22-29 per group) [prepubertal exposure]. Ovaries and blood were then collected from a pup/litter on PND 28 for analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>There were no adverse effects of PFOS exposure observed in the measured endpoints upon in utero exposure; however, statistically significant differences following prepubertal exposure were noted for serum estradiol levels, the total number of primordial follicles, and the transcript levels of Foxo1 and Gdf9.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The preliminary findings suggest that prepubertal exposure to PFOS may affect follicle development by disrupting estradiol production and altering Foxo1 and Gdf9 gene expression. Further studies will be important to examine the mechanisms underlying prepubertal exposure to PFOS on folliculogenesis.</p>","PeriodicalId":9121,"journal":{"name":"Birth Defects Research","volume":"118 5","pages":"e70052"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13147321/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147833621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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