Disturbance of maternal and fetal homocysteine metabolism has been associated with fetal neural tube defects, Homocysteine is an amino acid that is involved in several key metabolic processes, including the methylation and sulphuration pathways [5].
Methionine is transformed into S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe) and then into sulphur-containing metabolites (cysteine, taurine and glutathione) via the trans- sulphuration pathway.