Early Postnatal Metabolic Profile in Neonates With Different Birth Weight Status: A Pilot Study

Serdar Beken; Saygin Abali; Neslihan Yildirim Saral; Bengisu Guner; Taha Dinc; Eda Albayrak; Melike Ersoy; Meltem Kilercik; Muge Halici; Ezgi Bulbul; Didem Kaya; Melis Karabay; Zeynep Alize Ay; Gulten Zeynep Eksi; Fehime Benli Aksungar; Ayse Korkmaz; Mustafa Serteser

doi:10.3389/fped.2021.646860

Early Postnatal Metabolic Profile in Neonates With Different Birth Weight Status: A Pilot Study

Front Pediatr. 2021 Apr 27:9:646860. doi: 10.3389/fped.2021.646860. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Serdar Beken¹, Saygin Abali², Neslihan Yildirim Saral³, Bengisu Guner⁴, Taha Dinc⁵, Eda Albayrak¹, Melike Ersoy⁶, Meltem Kilercik⁷, Muge Halici⁵, Ezgi Bulbul⁵, Didem Kaya⁵, Melis Karabay⁵, Zeynep Alize Ay⁵, Gulten Zeynep Eksi⁵, Fehime Benli Aksungar^{3

7}, Ayse Korkmaz¹, Mustafa Serteser⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Section of Neonatology, School of Medicine, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul, Turkey.
² Department of Pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Endocrinology, School of Medicine, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul, Turkey.
³ Department of Metabolism, Acibadem Labmed Clinical Laboratories, Istanbul, Turkey.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul, Turkey.
⁵ School of Medicine, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul, Turkey.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, Bakirkoy Dr Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey.
⁷ Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Abstract

Introduction: Restricted or enhanced intrauterine growth is associated with elevated risks of early and late metabolic problems in humans. Metabolomics based on amino acid and carnitine/acylcarnitine profile may have a role in fetal and early postnatal energy metabolism. In this study, the relationship between intrauterine growth status and early metabolomics profile was evaluated. Materials and Methods: A single-center retrospective cohort study was conducted. Three hundred and sixty-one newborn infants were enrolled into the study, and they were grouped according to their birth weight percentile as small for gestational age (SGA, n = 69), appropriate for gestational age (AGA, n = 168), and large for gestational age (LGA, n = 124) infants. In all infants, amino acid and carnitine/acylcarnitine profiles with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were recorded and compared between groups. Results: LGA infants had higher levels of glutamic acid and lower levels of ornithine, alanine, and glycine (p < 0.05) when compared with AGA infants. SGA infants had higher levels of alanine and glycine levels when compared with AGA and LGA infants. Total carnitine, C0, C2, C4, C5, C10:1, C18:1, C18:2, C14-OH, and C18:2-OH levels were significantly higher and C3 and C6-DC levels were lower in SGA infants (p < 0.05). LGA infants had higher C3 and C5:1 levels and lower C18:2 and C16:1-OH levels (p < 0.05). There were positive correlations between free carnitine and phenylalanine, arginine, methionine, alanine, and glycine levels (p < 0.05). Also, a positive correlation between ponderal index and C3, C5-DC, C14, and C14:1 and a negative correlation between ponderal index and ornithine, alanine, glycine, C16:1-OH, and C18:2 were shown. Conclusion: We demonstrated differences in metabolomics possibly reflecting the energy metabolism in newborn infants with intrauterine growth problems in the early postnatal period. These differences might be the footprints of metabolic disturbances in future adulthood.

Keywords: carnitine; large for gestational age; metabolomics (OMICS); small for gestation age; tandem MS.