Open AccessCord Blood Metabolome Is Highly Associated with Birth Weight, but Less Predictive for Later Weight Development
Author(s) -
Hellmuth Christian,
Uhl Olaf,
Standl Marie,
Demmelmair Hans,
Heinrich Joachim,
Koletzko Berthold,
Thiering Elisabeth
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
obesity facts
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.398
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1662-4033
pISSN - 1662-4025
DOI - 10.1159/000453001
Subject(s) - original article
Background/Aims: Fetal metabolism may be changed by the exposure to maternal factors, and the route to obesity may already set in utero. Cord blood metabolites might predict growth patterns and later obesity. We aimed to characterize associations of cord blood with birth weight, postnatal weight gain, and BMI in adolescence. Methods: Over 700 cord blood samples were collected from infants participating in the German birth cohort study LISAplus. Glycerophospholipid fatty acids (GPL-FA), polar lipids, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), and amino acids were analyzed with a targeted, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry based metabolomics platform. Cord blood metabolites were related to growth factors by linear regression models adjusted for confounding variables. Results: Cord blood metabolites were highly associated with birth weight. Lysophosphatidylcholines C16:1, C18:1, C20:3, C18:2, C20:4, C14:0, C16:0, C18:3, GPL-FA C20:3n-9, and GPL-FA C22:5n-6 were positively related to birth weight, while higher cord blood concentrations of NEFA C22:6, NEFA C20:5, GPL-FA C18:3n-3, and PCe C38:0 were associated with lower birth weight. Postnatal weight gain and BMI z-scores in adolescents were not significantly associated with cord blood metabolites after adjustment for multiple testing. Conclusion: Potential long-term programming effects of the intrauterine environment and metabolism on later health cannot be predicted with profiling of the cord blood metabolome.