Associations between cord blood metabolic factors and early-childhood growth and overweight and obesity

Wen-Yuan Jin; Xiao-Yang Chen; Ting Han; Yan Jin; Ting-Ting Chen; Zi-Han Wang; Zheng-Yan Zhao; Zhi-Wei Zhu

doi:10.3389/fendo.2023.1164747

Associations between cord blood metabolic factors and early-childhood growth and overweight and obesity

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Jul 11:14:1164747. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1164747. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Wen-Yuan Jin¹, Xiao-Yang Chen¹, Ting Han¹, Yan Jin¹, Ting-Ting Chen¹, Zi-Han Wang¹, Zheng-Yan Zhao², Zhi-Wei Zhu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, China.
² Department of Genetic and Metabolism, Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Objective: This prospective cohort study was aimed at investigating the associations between cord blood metabolic factors and early-childhood growth, further elucidating the relationships between cord blood metabolites and overweight and obesity in early life.

Methods: A total of 2,267 pairs of mothers and offspring were recruited in our study. Cord blood plasma was assayed for triglycerides (TGs), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), C-peptide, insulin, and glycosylated hemoglobin type A1C (HbA1c) levels. Data of anthropometric measurements were collected from offspring at birth, 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months. Multiple linear regression models were used to evaluate the correlations between cord blood metabolic factors and weight Z-scores, body mass index (BMI) Z-scores, and weight gains at the early stage of life. Forward stepwise logistic regression analyses were applied to explore the associations between cord blood metabolic factors and early-childhood overweight and obesity. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were applied to determine the optimal cutoff points for cord blood metabolic factors in predicting early-childhood overweight and obesity.

Results: After adjustments for covariates, cord blood TG concentrations and TG/TC ratios were negatively associated with weight Z-scores from birth to 18 months. Cord blood C-peptide and HbA1c levels were inversely associated with weight Z-scores at 6 months and 18 months. Cord blood TG concentrations and TG/TC ratios were negatively correlated with BMI Z-scores up to 18 months. Cord blood C-peptide levels and HbA1c levels were inversely correlated with BMI Z-scores at 18 months. Cord blood TG, TG/TC ratios, C-peptide, and HbA1c had negative correlations with weight gains from birth to 6 months, but the correlations attenuated as time went on. Increase in cord blood TG and HbA1c levels and TG/TC ratios were significantly associated with decreased risks of overweight and obesity at 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months.

Conclusions: Cord blood metabolic factors were significantly associated with early-childhood growth patterns.

Keywords: C-peptide; HbA1c; TG; cord blood; growth; metabolic factors; overweight and obesity.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

C-Peptide
Child
Cholesterol, HDL
Fetal Blood
Glycated Hemoglobin
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Overweight*
Pediatric Obesity* / complications
Pediatric Obesity* / etiology
Prospective Studies
Weight Gain

Substances

Glycated Hemoglobin
C-Peptide
Cholesterol, HDL

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the “11th Five-Year Plan” (2009BAI80B03) and the “12th Five-Year Plan” (2012BAI02B03) from the National Science and Technology Issues Research, China and the Innovation Program for Early Screening and Intervention of Birth Defects, Zhejiang Province (2010R50045).