Maternal folate depletion and high‐fat feeding from weaning affects DNA methylation and DNA repair in brain of adult offspring

The mechanisms through which environmental and dietary factors modulate DNA repair are still unclear but may include dysregulation of gene expression due to altered epigenetic markings. In a mouse model, we investigated the effect of maternal folate depletion during pregnancy and lactation, and high‐fat feeding from weaning, on base excision repair (BER) and DNA methylation and expression of selected BER‐related genes in the brain of adult offspring. While folate depletion did not affect BER activity of the mothers, BER increased in the offspring at weaning (P=0.052). In the long term, as observed in 6‐mo‐old offspring, the double insult, i.e., maternal low‐folate supply and high‐fat feeding from weaning, decreased BER activity significantly in the cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus, and subcortical regions (P