Association between maternal folate levels and febrile seizures in early childhood from the Japan Environment and Children’s Study

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The relationship between maternal serum folate levels during pregnancy and febrile seizures (FS) in offspring remains unclear. This study assessed the association between maternal serum folate levels during late pregnancy and initial incidence of FS at 0-12, 13-24, and 25-36 months of age, using data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study, a nationwide birth cohort study. Among 100,303 live birth records, 92,129 were reviewed. The results revealed that maternal serum folate levels in the fourth quartile (Q4) were associated with a significantly lower incidence of FS at 0-12 months of age compared with the reference quartile (Q1) (odds ratio [OR]: 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59-0.87). However, at 25-36 months of age, maternal serum folate levels in Q4 were associated with a significantly higher incidence of FS than in Q1 (OR: 1.18; 95% CI: 1.00-1.38). No correlation was observed at13-24 months of age. These findings suggest that high maternal serum folate levels during late pregnancy might delay initial incidence of FS, reducing this initial incidence of FS at 0-12 months of age and increasing it at 25-36 months of age.