The Associations of Maternal Health Characteristics, Newborn Metabolite Concentrations, and Child Body Mass Index among US Children in the ECHO Program

Brittney M Snyder; Tebeb Gebretsadik; Nina B Rohrig; Pingsheng Wu; William D Dupont; Dana M Dabelea; Rebecca C Fry; Susan V Lynch; Cindy T McEvoy; Nigel S Paneth; Kelli K Ryckman; James E Gern; Tina V Hartert; On Behalf Of Program Collaborators For Environmental Influences On Child Health Outcomes

doi:10.3390/metabo13040510

The Associations of Maternal Health Characteristics, Newborn Metabolite Concentrations, and Child Body Mass Index among US Children in the ECHO Program

Metabolites. 2023 Apr 1;13(4):510. doi: 10.3390/metabo13040510.

Authors

Brittney M Snyder¹, Tebeb Gebretsadik², Nina B Rohrig¹, Pingsheng Wu¹, William D Dupont², Dana M Dabelea³, Rebecca C Fry⁴, Susan V Lynch⁵, Cindy T McEvoy⁶, Nigel S Paneth^{7

8}, Kelli K Ryckman⁹, James E Gern¹⁰, Tina V Hartert^{1

11}, On Behalf Of Program Collaborators For Environmental Influences On Child Health Outcomes

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37203, USA.
² Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37203, USA.
³ Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes (LEAD) Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
⁴ Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
⁵ Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
⁷ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
⁸ Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48912, USA.
⁹ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53792, USA.
¹¹ Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37203, USA.

Abstract

We aimed first to assess associations between maternal health characteristics and newborn metabolite concentrations and second to assess associations between metabolites associated with maternal health characteristics and child body mass index (BMI). This study included 3492 infants enrolled in three birth cohorts with linked newborn screening metabolic data. Maternal health characteristics were ascertained from questionnaires, birth certificates, and medical records. Child BMI was ascertained from medical records and study visits. We used multivariate analysis of variance, followed by multivariable linear/proportional odds regression, to determine maternal health characteristic-newborn metabolite associations. Significant associations were found in discovery and replication cohorts of higher pre-pregnancy BMI with increased C0 and higher maternal age at delivery with increased C2 (C0: discovery: aβ 0.05 [95% CI 0.03, 0.07]; replication: aβ 0.04 [95% CI 0.006, 0.06]; C2: discovery: aβ 0.04 [95% CI 0.003, 0.08]; replication: aβ 0.04 [95% CI 0.02, 0.07]). Social Vulnerability Index, insurance, and residence were also associated with metabolite concentrations in a discovery cohort. Associations between metabolites associated with maternal health characteristics and child BMI were modified from 1-3 years (interaction: p < 0.05). These findings may provide insights on potential biologic pathways through which maternal health characteristics may impact fetal metabolic programming and child growth patterns.

Keywords: child growth patterns; fetal metabolic programming; maternal stressors; newborn metabolites; prenatal and perinatal exposures.

Abstract

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